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The final game of the Premier League weekend sees Champions Manchester City host injury-hit Spurs at the Etihad Stadium. This game kicks off at 4:30pm UK time.
Manchester City
Manchester City survived a small scare in the UCL in midweek as they found themselves 2-0 down to RB Leipzig at the Etihad Stadium. As expected, Pep’s men completed the comeback and managed to secure top spot in Group G with very little fuss.
Match has ended
This is their third consecutive home fixture inside eight days and they’ll be determined to secure all three points. City were only able to draw 1-1 with Liverpool last weekend and although the result was probably a fair reflection of the match, Pep Guardiola would have been disappointed that his side couldn’t build upon Erling Haaland’s opening goal.
City remain on track to retain their title, however, with just three wins in their last seven PL matches, they cannot afford to drop any more points here.
Pep has been experimenting a little with his midfield with Manuel Akanji having stepped further forward to fill in for John Stones. The England international was fit enough for the bench last weekend and is likely to be drafted back into the XI on Sunday afternoon.
City have been pretty formidable at this venue and they’ve won six of their first seven matches here. Nevertheless, they have only managed to keep a clean sheet in one of their last five at the Etihad.
Spurs
Much has been made of Spurs’ injury crisis and Ange Postecoglu has had to pop a few square pegs in round holes recently. The Aussie will be relieved that his side haven’t had to also negotiate European football this season and they’ve had a full week to prepare for this tie.
Spurs have lost three matches on the spin and they have relinquished top spot as a result. Nevertheless, they put in a decent performance against Aston Villa last weekend and deserved to take at least a point from that encounter. The less said about their performance against Wolves, the better.
Rodrigo Bentacour was the latest player to hobble off last weekend and is the latest name to be added to a crippling injury-list. He is likely to miss this match alongside James Maddison, Ivan Perisic, Micky Van de Ven, Ryan Sessegnon, Manor Soloman, Pape Sarr and Richarlison. Although Yves Bissouma has now served his suspension and will return to the fold here, Cristian Romero remains banned for this tie. This is likely to leave Spurs woefully short of pace in the back four.
Spurs’ defeat to Wolves was the first time that they’ve lost on the road this season and it was just the second time that they’ve failed to score more than a single goal on the road.
Despite their ongoing wobble, Spurs remain just four points off the summit and could go level on points with Manchester City if they can collect three points in this contest.
Head to Head
Although this game is generally viewed as a ‘high-scoring’ fixture, three of the last five meetings have actually finished 1-0. Spurs were defeated 4-2 here last season, despite being 2-0 up at HT, however, they exacted revenge with a narrow 1-0 success in North London at the beginning of February.
City have won three of the last four meetings at this venue with Spurs producing a sensation display to clinch a 3-2 victory here at the beginning of 2022. Three of the four goalscorers in that game no longer play for either Manchester City or Spurs (Mahrez, Gundogan, Kane).
Spurs have failed to score in three of their last six visits to this venue.
Key Betting Stats
- Spurs have collected more away points than any other side this season (14)
- Spurs away games have averaged 3.43 goals per game this season.
- BTTS has landed in 67% of City home matches and 71% of Spurs away games
- 35% of the goals that Spurs have conceded have arrived in the final 10 minutes of games
- City are yet to concede a goal in the first ten minutes of a game. They also haven’t conceded a goal between the 41st and 60th minute.
- All five of Jeremy Doku’s assists have arrived at the Etihad Stadium.
Match Prediction
Manchester City dropped points last weekend, but they should be able to take advantage of Spurs’ injury woes. The visitors should get on the scoresheet at least.
Winning Combo
Manchester City Win and BTTS
Odds – 6/4 with Bet365
Best Bookmaker
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