Following on from a series of entertaining midweek encounters in Europe, it’s time to focus our attention back on the domestic game as we get closer and closer towards the end of the season. There’s still so much to play for up and down the continent – and that’s especially true when it comes to the Premier League. There are a series of intriguing battles going on at both the top and the bottom of the division, and with just a handful of games remaining, this is when teams start to get a little desperate and throw everything against the wall. Fun times.

The game that we’re going to be focusing on today is Manchester City vs Tottenham Hotspur, and if you can feel a sense of deja vu, there’s a reason for that. These two clubs met in the Champions League quarter finals earlier on this week, which is a game that we’re going to talk a little bit more about later. In terms of what they’re both trying to accomplish, though, Manchester City are in the running for Premier League glory once again, whereas Tottenham are attempting to cement their place in the top four so that they can confirm UCL qualification.

It’s been a tough few weeks for City when it comes to their quadruple quest, with Spurs ending their hopes of winning all four trophies this season. They also have some work to do in the Premier League, because while they may have a game in hand over Liverpool, it seems like they’ll need to win all of their remaining matches in order to keep hold of the title. They’ve certainly got the talent and skill within their squad necessary to get the job done, but at this stage, it’s all about managing their resources to the maximum.

Tottenham, despite being battered with injuries and suspensions in recent weeks, are on cloud nine. Not only are they in the semi finals of the UEFA Champions League, but they’re also in prime position to claim one of the top four spots in the Premier League. Mauricio Pochettino has built something really special in North London, and it truly does feel like this is just the beginning. They’ve still got a lot of work to do in order to get where they want to go, but nobody can deny that they’ve overcome a lot of obstacles so far this season.

City’s last six game stretch has certainly been an interesting one, kicking off with a 2-0 triumph over Fulham. They followed that up with a nice 2-0 win over Cardiff City, before narrowly edging out Brighton & Hove Albion in their FA Cup semi final at Wembley. They then went on to lose 1-0 to Spurs in their Champions League quarter final, before returning with a vengeance against Crystal Palace with a nice win. Then, in one of the greatest games of football we’ve ever seen, they beat Tottenham 4-3 in the second leg of their aforementioned tie – only to go out on away goals.

Spurs’ last six games have been a little bit more inconsistent, starting with a shock 2-1 loss to Southampton. They wound up making it back to back defeats when they lost to Liverpool at Anfield, but thankfully, they got themselves back on track with a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace. The Champions League soon followed as they beat City 1-0 in the first leg of their quarter final tie, before demolishing Huddersfield Town 4-0. Then, as we’ve already mentioned, they managed to hold on for dear life at the Etihad in a 4-3 loss that saw them progress into the semi finals on away goals.

The overall head to head standings between these two clubs are actually much tighter than you might expect, with City leading 62-61 – to go alongside 35 draws. Of course, you don’t care about that, because the real headline in this brewing rivalry is the unbelievable seven goal thriller that we saw earlier this week. Fans will be talking about that game for many years to come, with one of the main talking points being Raheem Sterling’s last gasp goal that was ruled out for offside. As you can imagine, that stirred up the debate on whether or not VAR is good or bad for football. For the record, we think it’s great.

Benjamin Mendy started against Tottenham, but there are question marks over his fitness following his two knee injuries. That means Delph could wind up starting, with Zinchenko also being a doubt. Bravo is back in training but probably isn’t going to feature again for the remainder of the season, whereas Fernandinho and Sane are being tipped to make the starting XI. John Stones is also going to be campaigning for a place in the first team, so as you can imagine, it seems like Pep is going to have a bit of a selection headache on his hands.

Moussa Sissoko was forced off in the 4-3 thriller during the week, with one of the big questions being whether or not Eriksen is dropped in favour of Oliver Skipp coming into the first team. Harry Winks is getting close to completing his return from injury, but it seems like he won’t quite be fit enough for this encounter. Foyth, Davies and Sanchez will all be bidding for a start, but the big story in terms of injuries continues to be the absence of star striker Harry Kane. Can they get the job done without him? Only time will tell.

Man City vs Tottenham Betting Prediction

Revenge is a dish best served cold, and we think Manchester City are going to love beating Tottenham Hotspur down as revenge for their loss during the week. Funnily enough we can actually see Spurs being the ones to take the lead early on, only for City to stretch their legs and really grow into the game. Sure, they weren’t able to progress in the Champions League, but City know what is at stake if they don’t retain their title: months and months of Liverpool fans gloating, which is a prospect many fans don’t want to face.

Pep’s men just have too much quality littered throughout their squad to lose again to Spurs, and that isn’t necessarily even a knock to Pochettino’s side. Sure, a loss would be pretty detrimental to their hopes of finishing in the top four, but managing their priorities with a barebones squad is going to really stretch them between now and the end of the season. There are some winnable games left in the Premier League for them which is clear for everyone to see, but we just don’t think that this is going to be one of them.

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