Match Preview: Manchester City v Spurs (disaster, draw or victory?)

 

Match Preview: Manchester City v Spurs (disaster, draw or victory?)

Everybody expects us to lose this game, or the best we can hope for is a draw (salvage a point). But it wouldn't surprise me if we did go on to win it. The trouble with Spurs is that we put a good run together then suddenly start losing, however, top games, like City, seem to inspire us to victory (we did beat them at the beginning of the season)… and on top of that, we are City's bogey team. But full credit to City for sustaining their position at the top of the league. City are 9 points above Liverpool (but the Reds do have a game in hand over the Sky blues). Unless a disaster happens, they should win the league comfortably.

Saturday will be a long day. I am staying at Janette's place from Friday night, then picked up Saturday morning for the match. After the game, we've booked into a hotel, eating out (Mel, Terry, Ian and myself), and then returning home the following day.

Manchester City's ground

For those who don't know: The City of Manchester Stadium is also known as the Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons. It is the home of Manchester City F.C. The ground has a capacity of 53,400; which makes it the fifth-largest in the Premier League and tenth-largest in the United Kingdom.

The ground was built to host the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

After the 2002 Commonwealth Games, the stadium was converted from a 38,000 capacity arena to a 48,000 seat stadium at a cost to the city council of £22 million and to Manchester City of £20 million. Manchester City F.C. agreed to lease the stadium from Manchester Council and moved there from Maine Road in the summer of 2003.

Manchester City

WDWWWW

Manchester City hopes to continue their winning steak after beating Sporting Lisbon 5-0.

City have been on a continuous run of goalscoring form, finding the back of the net in their last 6 matches. They've scored 17 during that time while only conceding a total of 2. Going into the contest against us, they are undefeated in their last 7 league matches at home.

Tottenham Hotspur

LWLWLL

After our defeat against Wolves, we will be aiming to make amends and get a good result against City. In the game against Wolves, we managed 59% possession and 17 attempts on goal with 7 on target, while the Wanderers got 11 shots on goal with 7 on target. Raúl Jiménez (6') and Leander Dendoncker (18') scored for them.

We haven't beaten Manchester City away games for the last 5 matches in the league.

Team News

Manchester City

Pep Guardiola has no fitness worries for this game.

Tottenham Hotspur

As for Antonio Conte, he has to choose a team with limited accessibility. Japhet Tanganga (Knee Injury), Oliver Skipp (Groin Strain) and Eric Dier (Thigh Problems) are not available.

My Prediction and thoughts

City will be expected to dominate possession and create several successful chances, while we will find it not easy going against the league leaders, nevertheless, that doesn't mean we can't win. Luck will play an essential part if we can sneak a victory.

I feel we could win (but then again, don't I always), but I shall break with my optimistic approach and go for a draw 1-1, hoping that I've got it wrong and we can snatch a win.

Saying all that, I think we will struggle to get into the top four this season. The best we can hope for is a top-six place. Even with a victory over  City, it won't change that as we are too inconsistent. That doesn't mean we can't walk away with a trophy (we are still in the F.A. Cup), as that has more to do with luck than consistency.

COYS!

Glenn