Manchester City will try to maintain the edge over their nearest Premier League title rivals when they welcome Tottenham Hotspur to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening with a kickoff at 8:30 pm.
The Citizens are currently nine points clear of second-placed Liverpool at the top of the Premier League. At the same time, Tottenham Hotspur occupies the eighth position, seven points behind fourth-placed Manchester United.
Manchester City is almost assured of reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League, after beating Sporting Lisbon 5-0 away in the first leg of their last-16 tie, with Riyad Mahrez (2), Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden and Raheem Sterling on the scoresheet.
Pep Guardiola’s side is also chasing success in the FA Cup; they travel to Peterborough United in the fifth round at the start of March. The champions are top of the table with 63 points from 25 matches and are looking to retain their title.
Tottenham will be underdogs going into this weekend’s game, but they have a good recent record against Manchester City. Spurs have won three of their last four matches against City, all at home.
They have not defeated City in Manchester since 2016, and they enter this match coming off defeats in their last three Premier League outings; they lost at Chelsea on January 23 before home defeats to Southampton and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Manchester City vs. Tottenham Head to Head
Both sides have ten games against each other, with hosts taking 17 wins while visitors with 12 wins. Here is a look at their previous encounters:
Home
- Sporting CP 0-5 Man City
- Norwich 0-4 Man City
- Man City 2-0 Brentford
- Man City 4-1 Fulham
- Southampton 1-1 Man City
Away
- Tottenham 0-2 Wolves
- Tottenham 2-3 Southampton
- Brighton 1-3 Tottenham
- Chelsea 2-0 Tottenham
- Tottenham 0-1 Chelsea
Manchester City Team News
Man City is expected to welcome Kyle Walker back into their starting XI for this match, with the England international missing out against Sporting in the Champions League through suspension. Following recent injury problems, the Citizens could also have Jack Grealish and Gabriel Jesus in the squad, but neither player is expected to start.
Tottenham Team News
Tottenham’s Eric Dier is training again and could play at the weekend, but Japhet Tanganga is out, while Oliver Skipp is a major doubt. Chelsea head coach Conte will change the side that started last time out, with Emerson Ruben and Sergio Reguilon potentially coming into the team in the wing-back areas.
Prediction and Odds
Man City has won six of their last seven home matches against Tottenham in all competitions, so we find it difficult to back the visitors here.
- Man City Win
- Goals Over 1.5
- No Score: Away
