Betting: Spurs to pile misery on Pep Guardiola’s struggling Man City
In what is is arguably the game of the weekend, Premier League title hopefuls Manchester City and Tottenham go head-to-head at the Etihad Stadium, with plenty at stake.
With the chase at the top of the table beginning to heat up, both these sides will be wary there can be no margin for error if they want to close the gap on leaders Chelsea.
City are toiling and if Pep Guardiola thought he’d walk the Premier League in his debut season, he’s quickly been made to think again.
A 4-0 thrashing at Everton last weekend handed the Spaniard his worst ever managerial defeat and saw the Citizens drop out of the top four.
They look out of sorts and their defence continues to be a major weak point as John Stones and Claudio Bravo struggle.
Low on confidence after losing two of their last three, Guardiola will hope for an improved performance against Spurs, with a win sure to send a statement that they are still in the championship race.
Sergio Aguero’s return from suspension has been a positive and the Argentinian has an impressive record against Tottenham.
The 28-year-old has 10 goals in 10 appearances against the north London outfit and will be champing at the bit to face a side without the influential Jan Vertonghen.
However, they’ll face a Spurs side on a terrific run of form at present, having won six Premier League games on the bounce and looking like genuine title-contenders.
The partnership between Harry Kane and Dele Alli continues to flourish, with the England internationals playing key roles in victories over Chelsea and West Brom.
Christian Eriksen is also playing his best football in a Tottenham shirt and has registered three assists in his last two games, helping to make Spurs one of the league’s most exciting sides.
But let’s not forget the importance of the players behind the front three.
Victor Wanyama and Mousa Dembele are crucial to keeping the side ticking over and their energy may be too much for the ageing Yaya Toure and Pablo Zabaleta.
With Kane, Alli and Eriksen in such fine form, I’ll be backing Spurs to win at 12/5 with Coral, adding to Guardiola’s woes.
The game earlier in the season produced an entertaining 2-0 win for Tottenham, and I can see both sides looking to attack with the Etihad likely to see some goal-mouth action.
I’ll be buying total goals at 2.95 with Sporting Index.
Pointers
Tottenham – 12/5 (Coral)
Buy total goals – 2.95 (Sporting Index)