Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola will renew their long-standing rivalry when Tottenham Hotspur host Manchester City in the Premier League in Saturday’s late game.
Tottenham, who go into this fixture ahead of City for the first time since 2017 will be looking to inflict on City’s title ambitions a further blow while strengthening theirs.
With Guardiola’s men enduring a slow start to the season, the North-Londoners, Tottenham, will be riding high on confidence going into the match.
After starting the season with a defeat against Everton, Tottenham have gone seven games undefeated since and that has got their fans and supporters daring to dream as they return from the international break as the league’s in-form team.
A win will pull Mourinho’s side further clear of Guardiola’s with an eight-point margin and into number one on the log, piling pressure on current leaders Leicester City ahead of their trip to reigning champions Liverpool on Sunday night.
Harry Kane has been in sensational form this term, making him and Heung-Min Son the most lethal duo in the division, and the return of Gareth Bale, alongside having a serial winner such as Jose Mourinho on the touchline, Spurs fans are optimistic that come to the end of the season, the club could drop their nearly-men and end a sixty-year wait to be crowned champions of England could come to an end.
City have a game in hand compared to all of the top five ranked teams and similarly to Spurs, they have lost only once this season, but their performance level has left question marks on their ability to regain the Premier League title they lost to Liverpool last season.
Guardiola, who penned a new two-year contract at City on Thursday, has won six major trophies, including two Premier League titles, in his four years in charge, but was unwilling to make grand predictions about what he can achieve in the coming years.
“I’m not thinking much right now about titles,” the Spaniard said.
“It will be good to do what we have done in the last three years, but it’s difficult. We are thinking week by week, and game by game, to do a good job and we’ll see at the end what we deserve.”
FORM GUIDE
Tottenham Hotspur Premier League form: DWDWWW
Tottenham Hotspur form (all competitions): WWLWWW
Manchester City Premier League form: LDWDWD
Manchester City form (all competitions): WDWWWD
TEAM NEWS
Manchester City Team News
Manchester City’s duo of Raheem Sterling (calf) and Nathan Ake (hamstring) suffered injuries during the international break and could both miss the game. But Sterling, who is facing a late fitness test could yet be in contention to make the trip to North London as Mourinho mischievously suggested during his press conference.
Talismanic striker Sergio Aguero – with 11 goals in his last 11 appearances in all competitions – could also return for City having used his free time during the international break to speed up his recovery from injury.
French left-back Benjamin Mendy and midfielder Fernandinho have also taken advantage of the international break in their recovery process but both will not be ready in time for a starting position in Saturday’s game.
Oleksandr Zinchenko is also a doubt as his team has been placed into quarantine in Switzerland after one of his Ukrainian team-mates, while on international duty returned a positive coronavirus test.
Tottenham Team News
Jose Mourinho will be without the services of Matt Doherty after the right-back returned a positive coronavirus test while away with the Republic of Ireland on an international assignment.
Spurs, meanwhile, will be without Matt Doherty after he tested positive for coronavirus while away with the Republic of Ireland.
Doherty was in close contact with Spurs teammate Gareth Bale during a match involving Ireland and Wales, but Bale’s test came back negative and so will be available for selection.
Steven Bergwijn was asked to leave the Netherlands international camo after his fitness level was not good enough to convince team doctors about his ability to feature. However, he will be in contention for this game.
Tanguy Ndombele has returned from a foot injury and will be available for selection but Erik Lamela continues his recovery from a similar problem and will not be available.
With a 23-goal involvement total in just 14 games in all competitions this season, Spurs will expectedly rely on club captain Harry Kane as the team’s main offensive threat.
Tottenham Hotspur predicted starting lineup:
Lloris; Aurier, Alderweireld, Dier, Reguilon; Sissoko, Hojbjerg; Bale, Lo Celso, Son; Kane
Manchester City predicted starting lineup:
Ederson; Walker, Dias, Laporte, Cancelo; De Bruyne, Rodri, Gundogan; Torres, Jesus, Sterling
Head To Head
Tottenham was unbeaten against City last season, including a 2-0 win in the corresponding fixture which ended a run of six top-flight meetings without a victory.
The North Londoners have now won both of their home games against Man City since moving to their new Stadium. A win in Saturday’s fixture would make it three consecutive home wins in this fixture for Spurs, the first time this will happen since a run of six recorded between 2005 and 2009.
Spurs have beaten Man City 24 times in total during the Premier League era, a tally only Chelsea can rival against the Cityzens.
Prediction
In a fixture that’s been rather cagey in recent times with Tottenham unbeaten against City last season, a draw seems like a more likely outcome.
Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Manchester City
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