With Chelsea hosting Crystal Palace earlier on Sunday, the game at White Hart Line will probably begin with the champions of England already crowned.
Tottenham are in 6th place, level on points with Liverpool and just one ahead of Southampton in the race with 5th and 6th qualifying for the Europa League and only an Arsenal win in the FA Cup final giving the 7th placed team an automatic spot in Europe’s second-tier tournament. City on the other hand will be looking to wrest the second place back from Arsenal with the Gunners having a game in hand.
Matches between these two sides are always entertaining affairs with lots of goals and the shaky nature of either defence promises more of the same on Sunday. City have twice won with a massive scoreline of 5-1 in their last three trips to London while the 3-1 defeat they suffered in the 2012/13 effectively ended their title race back then.
The mood in North London is that of general satisfaction in Mauricio Pochettino’s debut season with a host of improved players adapating to his high pressing, attacking football. They made it to a cup final and were expected to challenge for the top four positions, something they did for large parts of the season. Following just two wins in their last six games, they’ve tailed off the pack.
City have stopped a recent wretched run with wins over West Ham and Aston Villa in their last two games, but their away form remains dismal. They have lost their last four games on the road, and a trip to White Hart Lane won’t be an easy ground to put an end to that.
In the reverse fixture back in October, the Citizens recorded a 4-1 victory thanks to Sergio Aguero who got all of them while also missing a penalty.
Team News
Ben Davies dislocated his shoulder last week and is ruled out for the rest of the season. Kyle Walker too will miss out though Danny Rose is expected to have recovered from a hamstring injury
Paulinho will be available for selection having missed last week’s trip to Southampton in order to attend the birth of his child.
Manchester City:
Yaya Toure is out with a hamstring injury he suffered against Aston Villa along with Vincent Kompany and Gael Clichy. Samir Nasri meanwhile is a doubt.
Probable Line-Ups
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris; Dier, Fazio, Vertonghen, Rose; Mason, Bentaleb; Lamela, Eriksen, Chadli; Kane
Manchester City: Hart; Zabaleta, Demichelis, Mangala, Kolarov; Fernandinho, Fernando; Navas, Silva, Milner; Aguero
Last Five Meetings
18 Oct 2014 – Manchester City 4 – 1 Tottenham Hotspur Premier League
29 Jan 2014 – Tottenham Hotspur 1 – 5 Manchester City Premier League
24 Nov 2013 – Manchester City 6 – 0 Tottenham Hotspur Premier League
21 Apr 2013 – Tottenham Hotspur 3 – 1 Manchester City Premier League
11 Nov 2012 – Manchester City 2 – 1 Tottenham Hotspur Premier League
Interesting Statistics
- The two sides have played out just 1 draw in their last 22 league meetings, the memorable Joe Hart show on the opening day of the 2010/11 season.
- Tottenham have conceded at least 4 goals in their last 3 matches against Manchester City.
- Manchester City have scored 15 goals in their last 3 games against Tottenham.
- Manchester City have won 7 of their last 8 matches against Tottenham in all competitions.
- Manchester City have lost their last 4 away matches in the Premier League.
Key Players
Tottenham Hotspur: Harry Kane
Crowned the PFA’s Young Player of the Year last week, Harry Kane is enjoying the season few youth academy products even dream of. With 30 goals across all competitions, the 21-year-old is going from strength to strength and has admitted that there is no substitute for hard work and determination and has promised that he will keep on improving.
Speaking to the club’s official website, he said, “I’ve grown in confidence, my game has got better and better and everything has come together, the work I’ve been doing in the gym, work on the training pitch with the gaffer and the other players, it all seems to have worked this season.
“Again though, it’s all about how you maintain it if you can do again in the seasons ahead and that’s what I’ll be looking to do, to continue improving.”
Standing across from him on Sunday will be the league’s top scorer Sergio Aguero with 21 goals. But Kane is just one goal behind the Argentine and the result of the match might hinge on the one who has a better day.
Manchester City: Sergio Aguero
Sergio Aguero has not only established his status as one of the deadliest strikers in the league, but also the world. Having scored 72 goals in 115 appearances since moving to England, Aguero will be looking to add to his goals against Tottenham, whom he loves playing against. 7 goals in his last 3 matches against them doesn’t bode well for the Londoners who have found it difficult to restrain the bigger teams from finding the net against them.
Someone like Aguero who has the knack of scoring a goal out of nothing will be hard pressed to miss out on troubling Lloris a fair few times considering he averages 4.4 shots per game.
Prediction
An entertaining, end to end affair, with Tottenham grabbing a narrow win in a high scoring game.
