Pep Guardiola’s side have never won a league game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium but can they change that on Tuesday night? We look ahead to the Premier League clash with our Tottenham vs Manchester City prediction and preview.
Tottenham vs Manchester City Stats: The Quick Hits
- Manchester City are the favourites on Tuesday, overcoming Tottenham in 54.4% of pre-match simulations by the Opta Supercomputer.
- City are unbeaten in their last 21 Premier League games (W17 D4) – only once have they ever had a longer run without defeat in the competition.
- Tottenham have won each of their last four home league games against Man City without conceding a single goal.
Match Preview
Arsenal will be praying for a huge favour in the Premier League title race from north London rivals Tottenham when they host Manchester City on Tuesday.
Pep Guardiola’s reigning English champions are the favourites to regain their top-flight trophy, triumphing in 58.7% of the Opta supercomputer’s data-led season simulations. That is ahead of Arsenal’s 41.3% after the Gunners overcame Manchester United 1-0 on Sunday.
Mikel Arteta’s side moved a point clear at the league summit with victory at Old Trafford after Leandro Trossard’s 20th-minute strike, though City have a game in hand to come here at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
It is by no means a foregone conclusion for a Man City victory, however, as Tottenham have won each of their last four Premier League home games against Guardiola’s side without conceding a single goal.
Spurs were also 2-1 winners over Burnley on Saturday, relegating the Clarets in their first season back in the top flight after Micky van de Ven’s late curler snatched a much-needed home win. Pedro Porro had earlier cancelled out Jacob Bruun Larsen’s opener.
Ange Postecoglou’s team are fifth in the league table and trail Aston Villa by four points at the time of writing (before Aston Villa vs Liverpool on Monday night), still within touching distance of UEFA Champions League qualification.
With Richarlison ruled out for the rest of the season, Son Heung-min will likely start through the middle once more with Brennan Johnson and Dejan Kulusevski on either flank. The Swedish winger has been directly involved in five goals in his four Premier League games against City, more than he has versus any other opponent in the competition (three goals, two assists).
Visiting goalkeeper Ederson will hope to keep that Spurs attacking trio at bay as he prepares for his 250th appearance for City in the competition. He’s kept 112 clean sheets so far, with Petr Cech (127) and Pepe Reina (119) the only goalkeepers to record more in their first 250 matches.
The Brazilian was largely untested in City’s last outing after a convincing 4-0 triumph away to Fulham at Craven Cottage. Guardiola joked Josko Gvardiol was “the best winger on the planet” after his unlikely double, while Phil Foden and Julián Álvarez were also on target.
Foden scored in the reverse meeting with Spurs this term, as did Jack Grealish – who should return from illness for Tuesday. The only players to score home and away against Spurs in a Premier League season for the Citizens are Sergio Agüero (2013-14 and 2014-15), Ilkay Gündogan (2017-18), and Raheem Sterling (2017-18).
Guardiola will not care where the goals come from as long as City keep the title in their own control, having extended their current run to 21 Premier League games unbeaten with victory over Fulham (W17 D4). Only once have they ever had a longer run without defeat in the competition, going 30 matches between April 2017 and January 2018.
Yet City have not won their final away league game in their last three campaigns, having previously triumphed in nine of the 10 seasons between 2010-11 and 2019-20 (D1). That can perhaps be explained by the fact they had already won the title at the time of those two defeats – against Brighton in 2020-21 and Brentford last season.
As for City’s lineup, Nathan Aké is the only injury concern after the Dutch defender limped off in the first half at Craven Cottage with a foot injury.
Postecoglou’s team news is far bleaker as injuries continue to hamper his first season in charge of Spurs. Ben Davies, Manor Solomon, Timo Werner, Fraser Forster, Ryan Sessegnon and Destiny Udogie all remain out, along with the aforementioned calf strain for striker Richarlison.
Tottenham vs Manchester City Head-to-Head
City’s six top-flight losses in meetings with Tottenham are more than they have against any other opponent during Guardiola’s tenure.
That woeful run explains why only Birmingham City (seven at Old Trafford) have played more Premier League games at a specific stadium without ever scoring than Man City’s four at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
City did manage to score at this ground in January, though, as Aké’s last-gasp goal sent Guardiola’s men through to the FA Cup fifth round with a 1-0 victory.
The two teams could not be separated in the league at the Etihad Stadium earlier this season, however, after an entertaining 3-3 draw in Manchester in December.
Son gifted City the lead with his own goal but scored at the right end, along with Giovani Lo Celso to send Tottenham 2-1 up. Foden and Grealish edged the hosts ahead before Kulusevski netted a 90th-minute leveller.
Recent Form
Tottenham raised a few eyebrows after doing their lap of honour following victory over Burnley, despite having one more game to play at home on Tuesday.
However, there may be reason behind that considering Spurs have lost their final home league game in two of the last three seasons (W1), as many times as they had in their previous 17 campaigns (W13 D2).
City, meanwhile, have won their last four Premier League away games, winning each of the last three by an aggregate score of 10-0. Guardiola’s side beat both Fulham and Brighton 4-0, on top of a 2-0 triumph at Forest.
Only once in their league history have they won four in a row on the road without conceding, doing so in March/April 1903 in the second tier – and victory here would all-but secure the title.
Opta Power Rankings
The Opta Power Rankings are a global team ranking system that assigns an ability score to over 13,000 domestic football teams on a scale between zero and 100, where zero is the worst-ranked team in the world and 100 is the best team in the world.
Ahead of kick-off on Tuesday night, here is the Opta Power Ranking for both sides.
Despite their woeful league record away to Tottenham, Man City succeeded in a dominant 54.4% of 10,000 pre-match simulations by the Opta supercomputer.
Spurs managed a fifth straight home win in the competition against City in just 20.7% of data-led sims, with the draw more likely at 24.9%.
As mentioned above, Guardiola’s side are in the driving seat for the Premier League title with a 58.7% chance in Opta’s season simulations, though that would drop significantly with anything less than a win here.
Copyright © 2024
Leave a Reply