Preview; Spurs v Manchester City; the battle of the giants!

 

Preview;  Spurs v Manchester City; the battle of the giants!

SAT 21 NOV 2020PREMIER LEAGUE

Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

After a two week break and no injuries (from international football), we are back to where it really matters; Premier League football.

Second-placed (us) take on lowly place Manchester City. Who are 10^th in the league and hopefully they will stay there, while we edge even closer to the number one spot. I think we can do it, and by Jove, we will! All it takes is faith.

Let us go straight to Team news and my forecast and predictions.

TEAM NEWS

Spurs

We are without Matt Doherty, who tested positive for Covid-19 on international duty. Steven Bergwijn is available despite being sent back by the Netherlands after they declared he was not fit enough, but Erik Lamela remains out.

City

As for Manchester City, well their forwards Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling have returned to training after injury and could feature on Saturday. As for their Fernandinho, well he will miss out because of a stomach problem.

My prediction and thoughts:

Both teams are on a good run, so this will be a good indicator who might be the favourites to challenge for top honours. I favour us of course, so we need to put on a good show. A close result or a draw won't show anybody anything other than lost points.

We know what form our two leading men are in, better than their top men. However, City seem more reliable of late at the back (just hope not on Saturday). And of course, they will have a fit Jesus (no not Him, as far as I know, nobody has risen from the dead yet… even though Arsenal keep trying).

But it will be close, I will go with Jose Mourinho to get one over Pep Guardiola.

As for my prediction; I am not going for the high scoreline I usually go for (4 or 5 nill) but a more down to earth 2-0 or 2-1. Now I've said it, it could be a high scoring game. None of the other predictions has worked for me yet this season, even though the win predictions have.

Prediction: 2-0 or 2-1 to us (of course).

Kane has the worst minutes-per-goal ratio (383) against them of any of the 29 Premier League opponents he has scored against. His last goal versus City came in February 2016.

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head

Our  2-0 home victory in February ended a run of six Premier League games without a win in this fixture.

Manchester City have only lost more Premier League games against Chelsea than the 24 they have versus Tottenham.

In both of Manchester City's two fixtures at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Son Heung-min has scored, Hugo Lloris has saved a penalty, and the visitors have failed to score.

Tottenham Hotspur

We have trailed for a total of just 58 minutes in the Premier League so far this season. The next best record is Manchester City's 88 minutes.

We could extend our winning streak against other established top-six teams to three matches, which would equal our best run dating back to the 1999-2000 season.

Son is level with Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Mohamed Salah and Jamie Vardy as the top flight's leading scorer before the weekend, with eight goals. The Premier League record for the most goals in a club's opening nine matches of a season is 10, set by Les Ferdinand for Newcastle in 1995-96.

Jose Mourinho has lost five league matches as a manager versus Manchester City, his joint-most against a single opponent - along with us.

Mourinho is aiming to win consecutive competitive fixtures against Pep Guardiola for the first time.

Manchester City

Manchester City have lost just one of their 12 matches in all competitions this season.

However, 12 points is their lowest tally after seven fixtures of a Premier League campaign since 2008-09 under Mark Hughes.

They've scored only 10 goals in their opening seven league fixtures, compared to an incredible 27 at the same stage of last season.

City have lost five of their past seven Premier League away matches against other established top-six sides, including each of the last three.

So, there you have it, and like always, I see our positive start continuing. If we want to be serious challenges, then we must win matches like this. I don't think home advantage is going to help us that much under lockdown/ no supporters. To be honest, it is like playing on neutral ground; that is for both teams.

Best regards, Glenn

COYS!