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It’s been just over two weeks that Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City were involved in a six-goal thriller in the reverse fixture at the Etihad Stadium. On that occasion, the defending champions of England came out in front thanks to a brace from Riyad Mahrez. However, Antonio Conte’s men will have revenge on their minds when they renew Premier League hostilities at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Sunday.
Both teams are arriving into this clash on the back of successful FA Cup outings in the middle of the week. Spurs were hardly troubled and secured a comfortable 3-0 win over Preston North End. Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola trumped his former protege Mikel Arteta as Man City edged the 14-time winners of the cup competition 1-0 to secure a huge win and progress further.
Heading into this game, the news coverage surrounding Spurs mostly focuses on their head coach Antonio Conte who has been going through a difficult period. The Italian manager experienced ‘severe abdominal pain’ following the FA Cup victory over Preston North End and he will have to undergo an operation to remove his gallbladder.
Therefore, Conte won’t be on the dugout for Spurs during this weekend’s clash with Manchester City and he has given up the reins to his second in command Cristian Stellini on a temporary basis.
If the operation goes well and Conte is fit enough to travel, he will return from Italy to take up a seat in the director’s box and witness his side in action. However, before he left for his native country in order to go under the doctor’s knife, the 53-year-old saw his side pick up a strong result in the FA Cup. Son Heung-min grabbed a brace of goals while newcomer Arnaut Danjuma also found the back of the net as a Spurs player for the first time in a comfortable Deepdale success.
That win in the FA Cup was made even sweeter by the fact that it arrived following a triumph in the Premier League over London rivals Fulham. Fulham have been playing at a very high level this season and are a dogged side to get past. Their recent goalless draw with giants Chelsea was an evident of the same.
However, captain Harry Kane grabbed his 266th goal for Tottenham Hotspur, joining Jimmy Greaves at the top of the scoring charts to help his side attain all three points from the fixture at Craven Cottage. Despite the win, though, Spurs are playing catch up to the top four in the league table.
They are fifth in the standings with 36 points and have won 11 of their 21 matches so far. They trail Newcastle United in fourth place by four points. Spurs also trail Manchester United in third by six points.
They will be looking to register three successive wins across all competitions for the first time since October as they take to the field against giants Manchester City. Tottenham suffered defeat immediately after back-to-back wins in November and January, and home has not been where the heart is for the Lilywhites recently.
They have been vulenrable at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London and four of their last five Premier League matches on home soil have ended in losses. To make matters worse, they have also conceded at least twice in all of those games and their defence looks hardly secure. Moreover, Manchester City also have recent and fresh experience when it comes to scoring multiple goals against Spurs, as evident from their 4-2 hammering of them back at the Etihad.
Manchester City were finally pitted against the only side in England who have comfortably outperformed them so far this season as Pep Guardiol and Mikel Arteta came face to face on the dugout once again. This time, the defending champions of England had the last laugh as they were able to largely nullify Arsenal’s threat and went on to secure a 1-0 victory in the FA Cup tie.
Defender Nathan Ake stole the show with a sublime finish and his lone goal was enough to send Man City into the fifth round of the competition at the expense of the Gunners. However, as they prepare to turn their focus to the Premier League, Guardiola’s side still have plenty of work to do if they wish to overturn the deficit at the top of the table.
Arsenal’s surprising loss to Everton on Saturday has certainly opened the doors of hope to a potential comeback and the Gunners currently post a five-point lead over City at the top of the standings, having played the same number of games.
Unbelievably, there were some criticisms surrounding star striker Erling Braut Haaland after he went on a minor scoring drought. However, he silenced those detractors for good once again with yet another hat-trick against Wolves as City secured a 3-0 triumph two weekends ago. It was Haaland’s fourth hat-trick of the season in the Premier League as scoring records continue to tumble in front of him.
A trio of home wins may have come Man City’s way, but the champions travel to North London having lost each of their last two away contests to Southampton and Manchester United. What’s more bewildering is the fact that Pep Guardiola has suffered losses in all of his last four games at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. No other stadium in England has posed such a serious challenge to the world-conquering Spanish manager.
A boiling Guardiola also tore into his players after their 4-2 win over Spurs in January – as Conte’s men got to half time with a 2-0 advantage before the Riyad Mahrez almost single-handedly inspired a terrific fightback. Tottenham Hotspur will even have the support of the red side of North London, for a couple of hours at most, in their bid to right the wrongs of the reverse fixture at the Etihad from last month.
TOT vs MCI, Premier League 2022/23
Date: 5th February, 2022
Time: 10:00 PM IST
Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London
FORM GUIDE:
Tottenham Hotspur Premier League form:
- D-L-W-L-L-W
Tottenham Hotspur form (all competitions):
- W-W-L-L-W-W
Manchester City Premier League form:
- W-D-W-L-W-W
Manchester City form (all competitions):
- W-L-L-W-W-W
HEAD-TO-HEAD:
Tottenham Hotspur wins: 65
Draws: 36
Manchester City wins: 66
TEAM NEWS:
Tottenham Hotspur Team News:
Ahead of what promises to be a pivotal and pulsating clash with Man City, Tottenham have been handed a major double boost. Richarlison has recovered from his adductor problem and may be fit enough to come off the bench in the second half. Lucas Moura had also been suffering from a tendon issue and is expected to receive the medical clearance here.
Pape Sarr remains doubtful with a hip issue, though, and Stellini could hand an immediate full debut to ex-Man City product Pedro Porro, whose move from Sporting Lisbon was confirmed on deadline day despite an initial collapse.
The arrival of Porro forced Spurs to send Djed Spence out on loan to Rennes while Matt Doherty’s contract was terminated owing to the presence of too many right backs in the squad. Doherty had played 71 minutes in the win over Preston but, much like Kieran Trippier before him, has now joined Atletico Madrid in Spain.
Harry Kane, who is fit once again, will be one of several first-teamers to return to the first XI here, as he goes in search of the strike which will bring up 200 Premier League goals and see him surpass Jimmy Greaves in Tottenham’s all-time scoring charts.
Manchester City Team News:
Movements surrounding full-backs were also the template during the transfer window at Manchester City. Joao Cancelo was sent on loan to Bayern Munich and even though he denied that a training ground bust up with Guardiola was not the reason behind it, sources surrounding City had described a falling out between the player and the manager.
Cancelo had lost his spot in the side to 18-year-old protege Rico Lewis anyway, and the teenager should earn another start after John Stones came off with a thigh injury in the FA Cup win over Arsenal, where Phil Foden missed out entirely due to a foot issue.
However, the City defence will have to contend with the absence of John Stones who is set to be out for between three weeks and a month on the sidelines. Phil Foden, however, should be fit enough to return to the bench at the very least, if not make it to the starting XI.
Bernardo Silva, Aymeric Laporte, and Julian Laporte will all be vying for places in the starting XI as well as they hope to convince their manager. Meanwhile, Riyad Mahrez is expected to be the centre of attention again following his incredible performance against Spurs in the last game. He has a stellar record of seven goals and four assists against Spurs – against no other team has he registered as many contributions in the Premier League.
Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Hugo Lloris; Cristian Romero, Eric Dier, Ben Davies; Pedro Porro, Emile Hojbjerg, Rodrigo Bentancur, Ivan Perisic; Dejan Kulusevski, Harry Kane, Heung min-Son
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Ederson; Rico Lewis, Manuel Akanji, Aymeric Laporte, Nathan Ake; Ilkay Gundogan, Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne; Riyad Mahrez, Erling Haaland, Jack Grealish
Predictions:
While it would not be a shock to see goals galore in this game as well as Tottenham Hotspur have been prone to defensive vulnerabilities at home, Man City have not covered themselves in glory while playing on rival turf either.
The best of Guardiola’s free-flowing and dominant football hasn’t exactly been visible this season. Tottenham Hotspur will be hoping to do their city rivals Arsenal a favour and propel their own hopes for a top four finish. However, Man City’s elite mentality and bench strength should get the job done here.
TOT vs MCI Fantasy XI No. 1
TOT vs MCI Fantasy XI No. 2
