EPL preview: Can injury-ravaged Spurs defeat free-scoring City?
Both Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur will be looking to get back to winning ways in the Premier League as they face each on Sunday evening.
Spurs want to snap a three-game losing streak, while the Citizens want to avoid losing or drawing three straight top-flight matches for the first time since 2017.
Following three weeks at the top of the Premier Premier League, reigning champions Manchester City have surrendered their position to Arsenal after drawing their last two league games with Chelsea and Liverpool.
Guardiola may be concerned about his team’s performance defensively, as they have only managed five clean sheets in 20 games this season across all competitions. However, the fact that they have won 11 of the last 15 games in which they have conceded shows how much they have depended on their outstanding goal-scoring ability.
Only Liverpool and Spurs have scored more goals (19 goals each) against the Citizens since Guardiola took over in 2016. Man City has lost more games (six) to Tottenham than to any other opponent during this time. But Man City’s home record against Spurs is encouraging ahead of Sunday’s matchup; in their previous 13 league encounters at the Etihad, they have won nine, drawn two, and lost just two.
After a somewhat surprising yet remarkable start to the season, Tottenham was comfortably leading the Premier League table after ten games. However, Ange Postecoglou’s team’s season was derailed by three straight losses and the injury of several key players.
Spurs lost 2-1 at home to Aston Villa last weekend becoming just the fifth club in Premier League history to lose three straight matches after leading first. Giovani Lo Celso scored first for the Lilywhites, but Villa rallied to take maximum points thanks to goals from Pau Torres and Ollie Watkins. Chelsea and Wolves have also triumphed over the depleted Spurs team.
The London club are now in fifth place, out of the top four, despite having gained three more points than they did at this point in the previous campaign due to their recent decline in performance. But a victory on Sunday would allow them to tie the score with second-place Man City.
MANCHESTER CITY VS TOTTENHAM TEAM NEWS
Mateo Kovacic has resumed full training after missing the previous two games due to a thigh injury and may be included in the match day squad. Kevin De Bruyne is still sidelined and Matheus Nunes is a doubt, However, Pep Guardiola has confirmed that John Stones who has been out of action for the past two games due to a muscle issue is ready to start.
First choice goalkeeper Ederson is expected to replace Stefan Ortega in the starting lineup. Nathan Ake is also expected to take Josko Gvardiol’s place on the left side of defence, and Ruben Dias and Kyle Walker are likely to remain in the starting lineup.
Akanji and Rodri could start together in the midfield again. However, adjustments could be made higher up the field as Alvarez and Jeremy Doku are pushing for recalls over of Rico Lewis and Jack Grealish. Haaland will retain his position as the first choice striker.
Alfie Whiteman, Manor Solomon, Ivan Perisic , Richarlison , Rodrigo Bentancur, James Maddison, Micky van de Ven, Ashley Phillips and Pape Matar Sarr are among Tottenham’s numerous injured players.
Yves Bissouma is expected to start in central midfield alongside Lo Celso or Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, while Cristian Romero will serve the final game of his three-match ban.
Postecoglou may continue to start Emerson Royal and Ben Davies over Eric Dier. Son Heung-Min will likely be supported offensively by Brennan Johnson, Bryan Gil, and Dejan Kulusevski.
MANCHESTER CITY vs TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR TIME AND VENUE
Kick-off date is Sunday 3rd December, 2023
Kick-off time is 5:30pm
Venue is Etihad Stadium
Referee will be Simon Hooper
MANCHESTER CITY PREDICTED STARTING LINEUP:
Ederson, Walker, Dias, Ake, Akanji, Rodri, Foden, Alvarez, Bernardo, Doku, Haaland
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR PREDICTED STARTING LINEUP:
Vicario, Porro, Emerson, Davies, Udogie, Bissouma, Lo Celso, Johnson, Kulusevski, Gil, Son
MANCHESTER CITY VS TOTTENHAM PREDICTION
Given that this fixture has produced an average of over four goals in the last four league encounters, it looks like we have another Sunday evening of goals in our hands.
It remains to be seen if Postecoglou’s decision to maintain a high defensive line in the face of a crisis of injuries will pay off this weekend against a rampant Pep Guardiola Manchester City team that has already scored 26 goals in their nine home games this season.
We Predict: Manchester City 3 vs Tottenham 1
See also: EPL records broken by Haaland so far — And those he’s likely to break
Chimezie Amos
