Man City look to pile on further Spurs Misery on Sunday
Man City look to improve on Tuesday night’s comeback whilst Postecoglou’s Spurs set out to end losing streak
Trent Alexander-Arnold’s late equalizer last weekend made it back to back draws for Pep Guardiola’s Cityzens; a dint in City’s title defence as league rivals Arsenal went top later that day in a 1-0 win over Brentford. A draw which ended their 23-game game win streak on home turf.
City now host out-of-form Tottenham on Sunday and Pep will no doubt be setting out to make a statement of intent to league leaders Arsenal.
A four all draw with Chelsea prior to Liverpool, shows just how poor Man City have been this season at conceding goals; with just only five clean sheets so far this season in all competitions. A stat further proven on Tuesday night when they relied on their attacking proficiency to overcome a two goal first half deficit against fellow group G side RB Leipzig. Haaland, Foden and Alvarez all added to the score sheet in their 3-2 victory.
A win is now a must on Sunday for City; they face a Spurs side who have now lost three on the bounce and will be looking to get back to their winning ways that they showed earlier on in the season.
November was a month to forget for Ange Postecoglou. His side faced defeat against rivals Chelsea, Wolves and Aston Villa – all after taking the lead first.
His side have been hit with injuries and suspensions and their stunning form from the first three months of the season is long forgotten. Key players such as James Maddison, Ivan Persic and Ollie Watkins all remain on the sideline and centre half Cristian Romero is still serving his suspension which he picked up against Chelsea.
Their recent dip in form has seen them drop to outside the top four in fifth place however a win versus City on Sunday would see them draw level on points with the Manchester side. They face a tough winter period and if they are to see themselves back at the top they need to put their injury woes behind them as they face West Ham and Newcastle in back to back home fixtures.
Team News
Centre-back John Stones is set for a return on Sunday after sitting the last two games out as an unused substitute; Pep Guardiola has recently stated that he has only been fit for the bench but is now ready and “much better” for when they host Tottenham.
Mateo Kovacic could see himself return back to the matchday squad for the first time since featuring against former club Chelsea. He has been missing in City’s last two fixtures however it is believed he has returned to training following a recent muscular injury.
Portuguese international Matheus Nunes is still returning from his knock and won’t be expected to feature on Sunday.
After Guardiola made the decision to not use any of his bench last Saturday, Tuesday night’s Champions League match saw a slightly rotated starting XI. Ederson is expected to return for second choice Stefan Ortega. It is left unknown whether Nathan Ake will return to the starting line up over Josko Gvardiol. Pep also made the choice to start Grealish on Tuesday night but it’s Jeremy Doku who featured last time out in league football.
Kevin De Bruyne is still missing with his hamstring injury.
Tottenham’s ever growing injury list got even longer last Sunday. Rodrigo Bentancur tore his ankle ligaments against Aston Villa leaving him sidelined for up to two months.
Yves Bissouma is available for action after returning from his suspension however teammate Cristian Romero is serving his final match of his three game ban. His suspension now leaves Spurs without 10 first teamers with nine of that list out with injury.
Eric Dier is still being made to wait to get back into the starting lineup. Having failed to impress boss Postecoglou, he has fallen down the pecking order and despite all the recent injuries, it is Emerson Royal who has taken his place. When asked in a recent press conference about whether Dier may return on Sunday, his manager’s answer was “no.” He also confirmed that he will be sticking with last Sunday’s back four that lost to Villa.
Head To Head
It’s not all doom and gloom for Spurs fans; there is one stat that will certainly keep their hopes up for Sunday. In the last eight times that both sides have met Tottenham have ran out winners on five occasions. A 1-0 defeat for City last time both sides met in London.
Tottenham have quite clearly become Pep’s bogey side. Since his arrival to England in 2016 Man City have lost more Premier League games versus Spurs (6) than they have anyone else.
Verdict
Although the stats may line up in Tottenham’s favour, it can’t be seen as to how they will overcome City’s dominance on Sunday in front of a packed Etihad. Despite their past two draws in the league, the 3-2 win on Tuesday night will have Pep’s men full of confidence and ready to capitalize on their opponents losing streak.
