Man City vs. Tottenham
Venue: Etihad Stadium
Kick off: 5:15pm
Manchester City will attempt to bounce back from their home defeat to Leicester City last weekend when Manuel Pellegrini’s side welcome in-form Tottenham Hotspur to the Etihad on Sunday (today).
As it stands, Man City sit fourth in the Premier League table while Spurs are second, but the visitors would drop to third by the time kickoff rolls around if Arsenal avoid defeat at leaders Leicester City in the early start.
Man City might only be six points off the top of the table with 13 games of the season left to play, but they could be nine points off the summit by the time that they take to the field against Spurs. A draw between Arsenal and Leicester would perhaps be the most favourable outcome for Man City and indeed for Spurs, but the home side here need to bounce back from their disappointing defeat at home to Leicester last weekend.
A 2-1 defeat at Arsenal in the Premier League before Christmas led to more questions on Man City’s title credentials, but they put themselves back in the picture with a seven-game unbeaten run, which ended against Leicester last weekend. Despite that defeat, Man City have the best home record in the league this season and have also netted the most goals on home soil (34).
Incredibly, however, Pellegrini’s side have not yet beaten any team currently in the top six in the Premier League table this season – drawing three and losing four times during that run. Pep Guardiola will take control of first-team affairs at the end of the campaign, but there is no question that Pellegrini will want to bow out with another league title to his name.
Spurs will enter this match in the better form, but Man City have won eight of their last 10 Premier league meetings with the capital side, including each of the last five at the Etihad. In-form striker Sergio Aguero also loves playing against the Lilywhites, having netted 10 goals in his eight Premier League appearances against the London outfit.
Man City have to keep winning as they bid to stay in touch with the top three, but they also have an FA Cup fifth-round clash away to Chelsea next weekend, before their Champions League campaign resumes with a last-16 tie against Dynamo Kiev. Just how well Pellegrini can utilise his squad in the next few weeks will be vital to his team’s chances of success.
Pochettino’s side were far from their best against Watford last weekend, but a 1-0 victory showed their ability to grind out a result. Tottenham have been criticised for being ‘too soft’ and ‘too easy to play against’ in the past, but this team has shown mettle throughout the campaign. Only Leicester (2) have lost fewer league games than Spurs this season and they have only been beaten once on their travels – away to Manchester United on the opening weekend of the season.
Like Man City, Spurs are also still in Europe and indeed the FA Cup. They have a last-32 Europa League first leg against Fiorentina this Thursday, before welcoming Crystal Palace in the fifth round of the cup next weekend. Their next league match is not until February 28, when they will welcome Swansea City.
Pochettino, like Pellegrini, will have to balance his squad over the next few weeks to ensure high performance levels. The Premier League will take priority, however, because Spurs might never have a better chance to win the top prize.
Man City possible starting lineup: Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany, Otamendi, Kolarov, Fernandinho, Fernando, Sterling, Toure, Silva, Aguero.
Spurs possible starting lineup: Lloris, Trippier, Wimmer, Alderweireld, Davies, Dembele, Dier, Alli, Eriksen, Lamela, Kane.