Tottenham v Man City – Preview, Predictions and Best Bets

Tottenham host Man City in the at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday evening. Nuno Espirito Santo oversees his first match after replacing Jose Mourinho as Spurs’ head coach with big question marks over captain Harry Kane. Pep Guardiola is without a couple of star players as he begins his defence of the league title against a coach who has had some success against him in the past.

Spurs Form

After sacking Jose Mourinho and appointing caretaker Ryan Mason, Spurs had mixed results. The coach oversaw seven matches with four wins and three defeats. After a terrible performance to lose 2-1 at home to Aston Villa, Spurs beat Leicester 4-2 on the final day. Under Mason, Spurs put together some good home wins against Southampton, Sheffield United and Wolves.

Tottenham have had a mixed preseason but beat Arsenal in their final friendly to boost confidence. In their prior friendly, they came back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Chelsea.

Spurs Team News

Nuno has stated that Harry Kane is available for Sunday but the captain returned home late from holiday after the Euros. He may only have two days of training with the squad before this match, ironically against the club he hopes will sign him. At best, Kane will be on the bench but it’s more likely that he is left out altogether.

New centre back Cristian Romero is out injured and Tanguy Ndombele is already out of favour with the new coach. Nuno seems to like Japhet Tanganga and Oliver Skipp and both young players could start. Son Heung-Min would lead the line if Kane misses out.

Spurs Motivation

Spurs’ new coach has been using a back four in preseason but could even go to a back five for this match. The Portuguese is famed for his counter-attacking strategy and his sides often cede possession to draw opponents onto them.

Tottenham would almost certainly bite your hand off for a draw in this match and that would be a good result for the new coach and with the tumultuous summer that the club has had off the field.

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Man City Form

City finished last season with heartbreak as they lost the Champions League final to Chelsea. This campaign started with a 1-0 defeat to Leicester in the Community Shield, albeit with an understrength team.

Prior to that, City were in imperious form for months before a sloppy end to the league season. They won the title and Carabao Cup on the back of 37 wins in 43 matches with 26 clean sheets. Defeats to Chelsea and Brighton in the league came in their final four matches before thrashing Everton 5-0 on the final day.

Man City Team News

City are without two big players in attacking areas in Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne due to injuries at the Euros. Jack Grealish is therefore expected to start right away after joining for £100m. Many of the players involved at the Euros may only be on the bench including Aymeric Laporte, John Stones and Kyle Walker. Raheem Sterling could get the nod due to the aforementioned injuries and Riyad Mahrez has been on fire in preseason.

Up front, it could be Ferran Torres as Gabriel Jesus also returned late from Brazil duty but Ederson will return to play in goal. Pep Guardiola has started that Bernardo Silva wants to leave so he is expected to be benched.

Man City Motivation

Man Utd will play to win initially and will spend a lot of the match in possession although they’d prefer to use transitions. That could mean a match where both sides want to allow their opponents to have the ball and try to use counter attacks to exploit any space.

A draw would be a good result from this match and not prove a major blow to United’s chances of finishing second whilst it is key that Solskjaer avoids defeat for a second time to his predecessor.

Key Stats

Spurs have lost 3 of their last 6 matches

Spurs are unbeaten in 3 home matches against City (W3)

Tottenham have seen Both Teams Score in 3 of their last 4 PL matches

Man City have seen 8 wins and 5 losses in their last 13 matches

City have seen Both teams Score in 3 of their last 4 PL matches

Prediction

This should be a good game. Spurs need a victory which should mean they play in slightly more attacking fashion whilst Man Utd will also favour playing on the break. That could also lead to a cagey match where both sides are looking to cede possession to the other and are guarded against counters. Despite their inconsistent form, Spurs will be fresher and have all their top attackers fit whilst United look short of options in forward areas.