If there ever was an acid test to determine Tottenham’s title credentials, it’s this Sunday’s crucial clash at the Etihad Stadium.
Defeat wouldn’t be the end of the world for Tottenham, but seeing how destructive Leicester City were last weekend, the pressure is on Spurs to achieve a similar result.
Manchester City will be expecting to bounce back having dropped to fourth place, but anything less than a win would raise the pressure on Manuel Pellegrini who will depart at the end of the season.
Manchester City
No one could have predicted Leicester’s shocking victory at City, but what made it shocking was how well The Foxes played and how seriously they must be taken as title challengers.
With Manuel Pellegrini publicly announcing his departure at the end of the season with Pep Guardiola taking his place, a disjointed City performance last Saturday may have been in response to the distraction the Guardiola saga hanging over City for the past few months.
With Leicester playing Arsenal, no one in the top four can afford to lose this weekend, but for City, to lose two consecutive home games against two title challengers would be devastating.
City’s record against the top six in the Premier League is incredibly poor, with just three points taken and no wins against the sides near the top end of the table.
Sergio Aguero may have once again hit the ground running with seven goals in his last five games, but it’s at the other end where Pellegrini’s side are being let down.
City’s overwhelming attacking firepower is enough to dismantle most teams in the league, but against better sides they come up short at the back.
Without skipper Vincent Kompany, City look very nervous and shaky in defence, with Nicolas Otamendi, Eliaquim Mangala and Martin Demichelis failing to convince in the absence of the Belgian.
And to make matters worse, City are without David Silva and Kevin de Bruyne for Sunday’s match, the latter City’s best performer this season with nine assists and 14 goals.
If they want to regain a foothold in the title race, they’re going to have to do it the hard way.
Tottenham
Last weekend looked set to be a frustrating afternoon for Tottenham with Watford putting up a strong resistance, before Kieran Trippier was the unlikely hero to send Spurs second in the league.
That’s six wins in a row now for Tottenham and they couldn’t be heading to Manchester in better form against a demoralised Man City side.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side showed against The Hornets they had the ability to break down stubborn opposition, but they’ll be facing a different sort of test this Sunday.
Sergio Aguero loves playing Tottenham with 10 goals in eight games against them, but failed to score in the reverse fixture earlier this season, a game which Spurs emphatically won 4-1.
Toby Alderweireld and Kevin Wimmer are the men tasked with containing the Argentine again and the latter has stepped up in the absence of Jan Vertonghen very capably.
With pace in City’s side, Tottenham are likely to be under sustained pressure with Aguero a constant thorn in Spurs’ side, but City’s defensive problems can be exploited with the likes of Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli going forward.
Spurs are 11 matches unbeaten away from home and with everybody returning to form and firing on all cylinders, City should be wary.
Last time out
26th September 2015 – Tottenham 4-1 Manchester City
The Manchester City view: Sergio Aguero, striker
“I’m not sure why I’ve scored so many goals against Spurs, it’s just happened that way.
“I hope I can keep up that form on Sunday and hopefully help us win this match, but we know it won’t be easy.
“Last week we had Leicester who had only lost once away from home this season and now we face a Spurs team who have the same record.
“We were disappointed to lose last week but we will learn from it and use it positively.” (Goal)
The Tottenham view: Kieran Trippier, defender
“Every game is a big game for us but obviously to the outside world Manchester City against Tottenham is a huge match, so we’ll go there full of confidence and belief, do what we’ve been doing and try to get the result.”
“It’s going to be a tough test for us at City this weekend, they’ve got some very good players, but we just need to focus on ourselves.
“It’s been brilliant in training this week, everyone’s been buzzing just like usual.
“We’re on a good run at the moment, we’ve had six games without defeat now so hopefully that can continue.” (Tottenham Website)
Prediction
This has the potential to be a war of attrition, but with Spurs’ resilience and impressive record, they should be confident in taking at least a point from Sunday’s clash.
Manchester City 1-1 Tottenham
