Preview: Tottenham vs Manchester City

Written by Jacobs Dunga

Tottenham Hotspur will come into Sunday’s game hoping to kickstart a new era under Nuno Espírito Santo. Spurs would be disappointed in themselves for missing out completely on the top four last season after topping the league table for a certain period of time before they suffered a dip in form which ultimately led to the sacking of head coach, Jose Felix Mourinho just a couple of months before the end of the season.

Manchester City are the reigning Premier League champions after a spirited run of victories followed a disappointing start to the season. They wholly benefited from the injury misfortunes that hit Liverpool and the inconsistency of their Sunday opponents coupled with their neighbour’s poor run of form at home, that helped them create an unassailable lead at the top of the pack which saw them ease to the title in the closing weeks. They however came short in Europe again as they couldn’t extend their dominance in England to the continent losing to Chelsea in the final of the Champions League.

STYLE

Tottenham

Spurs under Jose Mourinho, adopted a pragmatic approach and that system fetched them a lot of goals with Harry Kane and Son Heung Min forming a formidable partnership upfront, tormenting opposition defenders, but they also let in a large chunk of goals.

They got boring at times but it was their inconsistency that cost them their place. Ryan Mason replaced Mourinho afterwards but there wasn’t much a wholesome change to their set up as he lost to Man City in the League Cup final.

Espírito Santo plays a fast paced attacking football with flying wingers, his Wolves team were a low scoring side but with the likes of Kane and Son at his disposal we could be seeing a whole different approach from the Portuguese coach.

Manchester City

Pep Guardiola’s teams are known for the possession based football and City is not an exemption to that. Pep is entering his sixth season in England and has already won the Premier League three times in the last five.

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Guardiola’s only undoing since taking over at City in 2016 is his frailties in Europe’s premier competition and this season is another opportunity to have a go at the biggest prize in European football. Nonetheless, winning a fourth English title wouldn’t be an indifferent agenda for the sky blues.

FORM

Tottenham rounded off preseason with a 1-0 win over Arsenal after having clawed from two goals down against Chelsea in the penultimate game to draw 2-2. Prior to that, they scored three in consecutive games against less fancied Colchester and MK Dons respectively.

The Citizens dispatched all comers during preseason but the actual stat is that the league champions have lost in each of their last two competitive outings. The last game of last season in the UCL final and the season’s curtain raiser, the FA community shield against Leicester last weekend. It will however be a different approach from City as they begin the quest to retain their title.

Head-To-Head

It’s been a balanced affair between these teams with Tottenham recording two victories in the last five meetings. City have won the last two but haven’t had a result at Spurs since 2018. A run of three successive defeats at the Tottenham stadium will have City rolling up their sleeves come Sunday evening.

Key Players And Absences

Tottenham will most likely have Kane start from the bench as he’s not been actively involved in their preseason preparations but the North Londoners will have Son who has scored in each of the last three home games against City. The revived Dele Alli will also hope he can prove a point to the new gaffer.

With Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden out due to injuries, all eyes will be on £100 million import Jack Grealish to deliver the goods on Sunday evening. Sterling may possibly start from the bench due to his involvement at the Euros but his injection of pace and precision will certainly be needed at some point in the game.

VERDICT

Should end in a score draw

1-1

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About Author

Olugbenga Olonade

I’m Olugbenga and I have a passion for writing. I enjoy writing about sports, football especially and I take pleasure in immersing myself in learning about new and exciting areas. I’ve written for over a decade but about nine years, professionally. I enjoy watching football and talking about sports in general just as much as researching any given topic in order to create exciting and engaging content.

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