Manchester City-Tottenham is a Premier League Week 7 replay and is played on Thursday at 9pm: stats, TV, line-ups, predictions.
Manchester City are proving they are not that perfect machine we have come to know in recent seasons. The missteps in the Premier League are now starting to become too many and last Saturday’s derby defeat to Manchester United definitely hurt.
The Citizens perhaps pulled the plug too early at Old Trafford, and after finding the goal of the momentary lead with Grealish, they were remounted within a handful of minutes by goals from Bruno Fernandes and Rashford. It was the second knockout in a row after the one a few days earlier at home to the last in the standings, Southampton, which cost them elimination from the League Cup. In a press conference Pep Guardiola ruled out any mentality problems, but he knows that at this rate the third consecutive title could seriously slip away. The Arsenal of his pupil Arteta last Sunday flew to +8 thanks to the success in the extra-cittadina with Tottenham – City’s next opponent in the recovery of the seventh day – and is officially in the runaway. In any case, the games remain open, with the Gunners who should not run the risk of underestimating too much a battleship like the one led by the Catalan coach, who has a whole round of return matches in front of him to catch up.
Conte ahead of Guardiola in head-to-head matches
Antonio Conte, whose primary objective is to get Spurs back into the Premier League, also found himself forced to chase. His men could do little against a team in great form and at this moment superior as Arsenal, who passed without major problems (0-2) at the Hotspurs Stadium.
Kane
His Tottenham, fifth in the standings, has slipped to -5 from the Newcastle-Manchester United pair, two direct competitors that will not be easy to catch up with. A prohibitive match awaits him at the Etihad Stadium, but the former Inter Milan and Juventus coach can charge himself by looking at the record. Together with Jurgen Klopp, he is the only coach to be ahead in the head-to-head with Guardiola (three wins against two defeats). What’s more, the Londoners have beaten Manchester City four times in their last five matches, including last year’s shock 2-3 with Harry Kane’s decisive goal in the dying minutes.
The Prediction
It is difficult to assume a third false step by Manchester City, who are obliged to win in order to reduce the gap on Arsenal. We imagine a clear-cut victory by the Citizens, eager to redeem the derby defeat. This Tottenham, frankly, does not seem to us to be able to counter Guardiola’s battleship. The aggregate goals, as in the last previous fixture, could be at least three.
Manchester City v Tottenham matchday squad
- MANCHESTER CITY (4-3-3): Ederson; Walker, Akanji, Laporte, Cancelo; Gundogan, Rodri, De Bruyne; Bernardo Silva, Haaland, Grealish.
- TOTTENHAM (3-4-3): Lloris; Romero, Dier, Davies; Doherty, Hojbjerg, Bentancur, Perisic; Kulusevski, Kane, Son.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 3-1
