Manchester City has the opportunity to strengthen their grip on the Premier League title when they host Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend. With their main title rivals Liverpool playing before them at 3 pm, the Sky Blues squad will know exactly what they need to do come kick off in the late game this Saturday.
The Citizens will need to be on their guard in this one. On the opening weekend of this season, they fell to a goal from South Korean forward Son Heung-min. It was a triumphant beginning of the Nuno Espirito Santo era at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Since then, however, things have been dramatically different for both sides. Besides the odd blip against Crystal Palace and Southampton, Pep Guardiola got the Man City winning machine up and running. They have collected an incredible 43 of the last 45 points available to them in the league since the aforementioned Palace defeat.
Spurs, have lurched from one crisis to another, before settling under current manager Antonio Conte.
A lot can change in six months of football, eh?
Manchester City vs Tottenham
When is it? Saturday 19th February, 5.30 PM
Where is it? Etihad Stadium, Manchester
Who’s in form? Manchester City (DWWWW) Tottenham (WLWLL)
Tottenham Players Competing in NFL Knowledge, Trivia: go here
What are the odds? Man City (-370) Tottenham (+1100) Draw (+475)
Premier League Podcast: Spotify Apple Podcasts
Starting XI Prediction: Man City Tottenham
STARTING XI PREDICTION
Brazilian goalkeeper extraordinaire Ederson starts here. His understudy, Zack Steffen, is fit enough to take the bench. I think that is as close to the pitch the American is getting, barring any kind of injury or red card scenario.
Kyle Walker returns following his suspension. That means he takes up his usual residence at right-back and Portuguese Joao Cancelo switches to his preferred left-back position. In such a pivotal match, expect nothing less than the best central defenders City offers. That means Aymeric Laporte and Ruben Dias pair up at center back.
The midfield three is likely to be predictable.
I think Bernardo Silva moves into the attack, with German Ilkay Gundogan pairing up with Belgian Kevin De Bruyne in the center of the park. Filling the gap between those two and the defense will be Rodri.
In attack, Phil Foden only played an hour in the easy victory against Sporting CP, so I expect him to back that up with a start in this one. They will probably rest Riyad Mahrez with Bernardo Silva lining up to Fodens’ right.
Raheem Sterling’s recent streak of goal-scoring means he keeps his place on the left of the City attack.
MATCH PREDICTION
This should be a fascinating match, with the two sides playing contrasting styles of football. I don’t think Tottenham will be intimidated given their recent record against Manchester City, but it is hard to bet against this Sky Blue’s side. As much as my heart wants to see Tottenham take points from City, I’ve got to go with my head on this one.
2-1 victory to Manchester City.
Stuart Kavanagh is an up-and-coming sports journalist from Melbourne, Australia. Along with being the owner of the sports and entertainment website thepyrrhic.com, he is also the co-host of the ‘After Extra Time’ podcast. Football mad, he is always down for debate and discussion at @stueyissickofit on Twitter.