Manchester Town will try to equal the five-point gap with Liverpool at the top of the Premier League on Saturday when They face Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad Stadium. Both sides suffered defeats ahead of November’s World Cup clash with Pep Guardiola’s men hammered 2-1 by Brighton and Hove Albion while Ange Postecoglou’s side were underperforming in the same table against Ipswich Town.
City reported Thursday that Guardiola will stay for two more years, while the first-team starters are the last to return to full fitness. The defending EPL champions are preparing for eight tough games in 29 days, with six Premier League and two UEFA Champions League games in that stretch. Spurs are top with Town beating the Londoners just three times in their last 10 meetings, but are set to return to the Etihad Stadium with four away defeats – they are unbeaten in 52 games in all competitions at their home in Manchester with 35 of those who are within the EPL.
Tottenham are in 10th place, despite only three points behind Chelsea in third place and Spurs beat Town in the EFL Cup recently, which could support them here. Postecoglou’s men have 17 goals in 10 Premier League meetings with the Voters, but have scored at least two goals in each of their three visits to the Etihad Stadium. However, just four wins in 18 away games in the EPL tell their own story, and the wrong sides of the top flight have lost more on the road since March than Spurs.
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attention and probabilities
- Past: Saturday November 23 | While: 12:30 pm Eastern Time
- Location: Etihad Stadium – Manchester, England
- Keep tabs on: NBC | Wave: Fubo (effort to separate)
- Odd: City -188; Draw +375; Spurs +450
Season to this point
Guardiola and Town suffered a fourth consecutive defeat in the first life of his managerial career and the extreme life suffered by voters was in 2006, when Stuart Pearce was in office. Back-to-back defeats in the Premier League, which also included a 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth, mean Town are five points behind Liverpool in their next 11 games and the time has passed in their search for an immediate fifth name. Spurs were slipping into the top 365 days ago, but are 10 points and eight positions worse in this round of life with five wins, one draw and five losses in 11 EPL games. Stretch that beyond the English top flight and Tottenham have four wins and four losses in their last eight games in all competitions.
Workforce information
City: The injured Rodri could be offered to honor his Ballon d’Or award and Oscar Bobb will also be out long-term. Jack Grealish, Kevin De Bruyne, John Stones, Manuel Akanji and Phil Foden have trained, so they can make the cut along with Ruben Dias, Jeremy Doku, Nathan Ake and Matheus Nunes. The return of Stones, Akanji and Dias would actually breathe life into the defense with Jahmai Simpson-Pusey falling by the wayside and Josko Gvardiol moving to left back while Rico Lewis and Kyle Walker push for the right back spot. Erling Haaland will dominate the form after a sharp global split with Norway and Mateo Kovacic, Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva are all compatible to start.
Conceivable city XI: Ederson; Walker, Stones, Akanji, Gvardiol; Kovacic, Gundogan; Bernardo, Foden, Savinho; Haaland.
Spurs: Rodrigo Bentancur received a seven-match ban for comments about teammate Son Heung-min and Spurs have since appealed. Micky van de Ven, Richarlison and Wilson Odobert are out for the month Cristian Romero has a weakness in infrastructure. Ben Davies can join Radu Dragusin in central defense month. Yves Bissouma may be available for Bentancur alongside Dejan Kulusevski and one of Pape Matar Sarr or James Maddison.
Conceivable Spurs XI: Vicar; Porro, Dragusin, Davies, Udogie; Kulusevski, Bissouma, Sarr; Johnson, Solanke, Jr.
Prediction
This one will have to be tight and could easily end 2-2, but a narrow Town win with a run of two or more Spurs goals at the Etihad Stadium seems about right. Select: City 2, Spurs 1.
