Premier League [Preview]: Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester City

Tottenham Hotspur entertain table-toppers Manchester City in Saturday’s late Premier League kick-off at the Wembley Stadium. Pep Guardiola’s side have succumbed to three straight defeats across all competitions, and Spurs have the opportunity to pile more misery on the Mancunian giants whilst cementing their top-four position in the standings.

What happened in the previous gameweek?
Spurs continued their winning run as they beat Stoke City 2-1 on the road. Christian Eriksen opened the scoring in the 52nd minute only to see Mame Biram Diouf level the scores five minutes later. Eriksen notched his second goal of the day via a brilliant free-kick in the 63rd minute, but surprisingly, the dubious goals panel awarded the strike to Harry Kane after his testimony and video replays which appeared to indicate a minor flick off his shoulder.
On the contrary, City faced Manchester United in a Manchester derby which would not be worthwhile for their fans to remember. The hosts took a comfortable 2-0 lead at the break, and looked good value to at least double the advantage. However, the second period witnessed a stunning comeback for United spearheaded by Paul Pogba, who bagged a brace in the space of 97 seconds. Chris Smalling followed to bag the match-winner for United before David de Gea made another world-class save to deny Sergio Aguero his 200th City goal – and avoid a share of the spoils.
Players to watch for:
Harry Kane – Tottenham Hotspur: Kane has been trolled severely on Twitter after being rewarded his Stoke goal via the dubious goals panel. The Englishman is now on 25 goals for the Premier League campaign, and his focus is likely to lie on another Golden Boot, for which he is four goals shy of leader Mohamed Salah. Kane has notched just two goals in six previous matches versus City, but he has a good opportunity to test their backline which has come off the disappointment of a Champions League quarter-final exit to Liverpool.
Sergio Aguero – Manchester City: Aguero has not started a game since his recovery from a knee strain, and he will be desperate to lead the line this weekend. The Argentine has been stuck on 199 goals for City since the League Cup final triumph over Arsenal, and his involvement could be key to ending City’s worst run under Pep Guardiola. Aguero holds an exceptional record against Spurs with 10 goals in just 12 meetings.
Prediction:
Tottenham have grown in confidence at home as the season has gone along, and we are fancying them for the victory after their recent impressive performances against the elite clubs. Spurs are unbeaten against the top-six in 2018 with three wins and one draw – Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 Manchester City

(Visited 130 times, 1 visits today)

No Responses

  1. IAN says:

    Man City go into half time courtesy of their 12th man, oh sorry, referee John Moss. The ball or player was not even close to the penalty area, a good half a yard outside and a penalty is awarded. Just so happens it is the same referee that awarded a penalty to Tottenham some months back that stole all three points from Liverpool and earned Tottenham a point. Maybe he is overdue for an eye test! Either that, maybe linesman need to be employed on both sides of the pitch and told to keep up with the play so that they can assist the referee with their job. I mean today’s error could award the Premier League title on an erroneous call!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *