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Tottenham’s Big Test Against Manchester City

We’ve seen some thoroughly entertaining Premier League games already this season, and even this weekend – but it’s not over by a long shot. In addition to the Sunday games today we’re also going to be treated to a fascinating encounter on Monday Night Football tomorrow evening, as Tottenham Hotspur host Manchester City. These two sides are considered to be amongst the best not only in England but also in European football as a whole, but when it comes down to a game of this magnitude, you have to question whether or not they’ll let the weight of the occasion get to them.

That sounds like a silly thing to say given the quality and professionalism of both clubs, but it’s true. You could even argue that City and Spurs have already shown nervy signs in a handful of their games this season, which should make for an entertaining clash regardless of whether or not you’ll be supporting either side. English football is at its best when the likes of these two clubs are locking horns, and that should be the way that you feel even if your team happens to be a rival of either outfit.

Mauricio Pochettino has long since been viewed as the man to lead Tottenham forward into a successful new era, and while things have gone pretty well for him during his tenure at the club, it certainly feels like there’s some uncertainty surrounding them right now. From some of their performances this season to their stadium still not being complete, it’s an odd position for their fans to be in. Sure, they’re still playing great football most of the time, but you have to question how much that is going to mean come the end of the campaign if they end up being situated behind bitter rivals Arsenal.

On the other hand you’ve got Pep Guardiola, who continues to write his name into the history books as one of the greatest managers of this – or any other era. He has been dubbed as the mastermind behind this current City success story, and in the last few years, it’s hard to deny that. These next few months will be where the real test begins for him, though, because we’ve seen so many times in the past that it is insanely difficult to retain your Premier League title when faced with the kind of quality that this division offers.

Tottenham have been able to steady the ship in recent weeks, in the wake of a poor spell earlier on in the season. Their penalty shootout win over Watford in the Carabao Cup was followed up by an efficient 2-0 win over Huddersfield, although they were left slightly disappointed after falling 4-2 to Barcelona despite a somewhat spirited display. Back to back wins over Cardiff and West Ham United allowed them to keep the pace with the teams above and around them, although they would’ve been expecting better than a 2-2 draw against PSV Eindhoven.

City, on the other hand, have been doing what they do best: winning. A 3-0 triumph against Oxford United was followed up by convincing wins over Brighton and Hoffenheim, as they continue to utilise the strength of their squad in all competitions. A somewhat disappointing 0-0 draw against Liverpool soon followed, but they’ve been able to bounce back with 5-0 and 3-0 wins over Burnley and Shakhtar Donetsk respectively. In total, that means that they’ve conceded just one goal in their last six games with five clean sheets to their name – and it’s hard not to be impressed by that.

As we noted these two teams are no strangers to one another, and their overall head to head standings are much tighter than you may think. The current score is 60-60 with 35 draws between them, meaning that whoever can pick up the three points tomorrow night will take the lead in the history books. Tottenham will be out for revenge after last season, though, when City tore through them 4-1 and 3-1 in two fairly one sided performances. Again, as we’ve stated, you just never can predict what could be coming right around the corner in a game between two of the Premier League’s elite.

The big news is that Dele Alli will be back and available for a spot in the starting XI after missing the last four games, and that really is the best possible headline for Spurs heading into this one. As well as that, unfortunately, Danny Rose (groin) and Jan Vertonghen (hamstring) are still receiving treatment and will miss out on this blockbuster game which will open the door for some interesting selection headaches for Pochettino. Either way they have a strong enough squad to win the game, but injuries can always threaten to derail a team’s progress.

Fabian Delph (knee) and Ilkay Gundogan (hamstring) are going to be the main doubts for Manchester City, and without sounding too disrespectful to those two gentlemen, it won’t be the end of the world for City as they’ll be well aware of the many top quality options they have at their disposal. Danilo has an ankle problem that will likely ensure that he plays no part in this one, but this will still be viewed as a fairly routine game for those City fans out there who have the utmost confidence in their squad.

Tottenham vs Manchester City Betting Prediction

There are two ways that this game could realistically go: either it’s a disappointing let down, or it completely blows us out of the water. We tend to think that it’s going to be the latter of the two, and there are a multitude of reasons for that. City are so unbelievably difficult to break down, and that’s even more accurate when they come up against sides who are perceived to be their biggest rivals. We think Spurs will try and settle into the game early on as opposed to going straight for City, and that’s a bad move because they can pick you apart from anywhere.

We’re backing City to spring into a 2-0 lead, which will serve as the wake up call that the home side need. They’ll pull one back to make it 2-1 before City once again restore their two goal advantage, and another goal from either team should leave us with a final scoreline of 4-2. That, in itself, sounds very hopeful and we’ll obviously be chuffed if we get anywhere near a game of that quality – but you just know they can provide it. We could definitely be completely off the pulse here, but we’re still expecting a good showing from Guardiola’s men which should hardly come as a surprise.