Manchester City will start the defence of their Premier League title when they take on Tottenham in north London. After many of their players were absent for the Community Shield, who will be missing out on this game?
City’s last trip to London was one to forget as they lost to Leicester City in the curtain-raiser for the season. Pep Guardiola would like to see a response from his players, but against Spurs, it is not going to be easy to get the win.
Tottenham vs Manchester City FYIs
Kick-off: 4.30 PM GMT, 15 August Sunday
Starting XI Predictions: Tottenham Man City
Team News: Tottenham Man City
Season Previews: Tottenham Man City
PL Season Preview podcast: go here
Form Guide (All Competitions): Tottenham (DWWDW) Manchester City (LWWWL)
As for the team news, one player that is not going to play is Kevin De Bruyne, who got injured at the Euros. Phil Foden is in the same state, and that limits the options in attacking midfield, wing, for Guardiola.
Raheem Sterling, Kyle Walker and Gabriel Jesus are all doubts for the game as they have only recently returned to training. Jack Grealish should be playing from the start, after his coming off the bench against Leicester City in the Community Shield.
City got the better of Spurs last season and they should go into this game with a lot of confidence. But it is not going to be easy as the north Londoners have a few talented players of their own. Heung-min Son is the danger man that Guardiola will be worried about. John Stones and Ruben Dias will have to be careful in how they handle the Korean’s talents, skills and abilities.
The defending champions’ best chance of winning is to bring Grealish into the game as much as possible with his dribbling and passing able to break the rhythm of the opposition defence.
If the Englishman gets on the ball regularly, it will open attacking avenues for City to exploit.
Manchester City must forget the events of the Community Shield and now focus on the match at hand.
Beating Tottenham will not be easy but given the talent that they possess, it is likely Guardiola gets the new campaign started on a positive note.