Tomorrow sees Tottenham officially start their season when Manchester City come to town in the Premier League opener for both teams. All eyes will be on England captain Harry Kane here, but will he even play in this game?
Spurs made late strides in the transfer window as they have brought in some exciting young talents. And after a good pre-season, they are ready to begin the Nuno Espirito Santo era in north London.
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Kick-off: 4.30 PM GMT, 15 August Sunday
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Form Guide (All Competitions): Tottenham (DWWDW) Manchester City (LWWWL)
All summer there has been speculation as to whether Harry Kane is going to join Pep Guardiola at City. But for the moment, he is a Spurs player and is likely to start the game from the bench having only started training very recently.
The same is true of the north Londoners’ new arrivals Cristian Romero and Bryan Gil. This match would be too soon for them to start, and fans will have to wait a little longer to catch a glimpse of them.
When Spurs take to the field, they must put all the drama surrounding Kane behind them and focus on the game. City are only slowly getting into their rhythm and as Leicester City showed last week, they can be beaten.
The north Londoners must use their speedy wingers to attack the City backline and create chances for Heung-min Son. The Korean maestro is expected to start as the centre-forward and his movement is going to be a huge problem for John Stones and Ruben Dias.
This match will also tell us what kind of game plan Nuno has in mind for Spurs. As we have seen during pre-season, the manager is using a different formation from the one he frequently used at Wolves.
This could be, to play to the strengths of his squad.
Tottenham have some off-the-field issues that need to be taken care of but that should not affect what happens on it. With the likes of Son with them, Spurs stand a good chance of beating the reigning Premier League champions.