Manchester City are yearning to win at the new Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium against Spurs as they look to close down the gap with league leaders Arsenal to two points.
The holders claimed a 3-0 win over Wolves at Molineux last time in the Premier League whereas Tottenham sneaked out a 1-0 victory away at Fulham.
TOT vs MCI Match Details
Date: Sunday, 5 February 2023
Time: 17:30 (BST) / 22:00 (IST)
Venue: Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium, Tottenham
TOT vs MCI Match Preview
Tottenham are waiting for advice from the medical services on whether manager Antonio Conte will be fit to be in the dugout on Sunday’s clash against Manchester City after gallbladder surgery. Otherwise, Cristian Stellini will be poised to take charge. The Italian boss was on the manager’s bench for Spurs’s 3-0 win over Preston North End in the FA Cup fourth round three days after a 1-0 win over Fulham in the Premier League. Those two results with the 4-0 thrashing of Crystal Palace earlier has been the only positive showings in an otherwise difficult start to 2023 for both the club and the manager due to some personal losses. The surgery adds to the woes the new year has brought. With City to face again only two games after a 4-2 loss at the Etihad, the home side will have to take the momentum they gained after that defeat to continue with their four-game victory run in this meeting at this stadium in all competitions. Strikingly, Spurs have not conceded a single goal in that period while scoring six but have let in at least two goals in each of their last five Premier League games at home. They will be wishing Harry Kane breaks the all-time scorer’s record for the club after scoring the 266th Tottenham goal last week with Heung-Min Son maintaining his own streak of scoring in this fixture at this venue to guide them to another win. Anything short of that will not only stagnate their top-four chances but also put their Europa League spot in danger with chasers Brighton and Brentford closing the gap faster.
That 4-2 come-back win after being 2-0 down in the first half at Etihad in the reverse fixture was a wake-up call for Manchester City to restore conviction to their play. Earlier, Pep Guardiola’s side got eliminated from the league cup and lost the Manchester derby but the win brought the intensity back. Erling Haaland improvised yet again scoring a hattrick against Wolverhampton in the last league outing and although he remained quiet against Arsenal in the FA Cup tie last weekend, Nathan Ake came up with a striker finish to eliminate the league challengers out of the competition. It was the third home win on the trot but their next away game will certainly be harder. The trip to the ground where the Spaniard has the worst record of his coaching career. The holders will have to overcome the hurdle in the Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium on Sunday to close down the gap with Gunners to just two after the league leaders surprisingly lost to relegation-threatened Everton a day before. City have lost two of their last five Premier League away games as many as their 37 matches on the road but haven’t lost back-to-back away league matches since August 2021 which was against
Spurs incidentally. So, the six times Premier League winners have a lot to play for in this match.
Recent Form (all competitions)
TOT: WWLLW
MCI: WWWLL
Recent Form (league)
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MCI: WWLWD
TOT vs MCI Team News
Tottenham have some welcoming news with Richarlison and Lucas Moura both returning to fitness but the former PSG player remains a doubt for Sunday. Pape Matar Sarr has not been included in the Premier League squad for the second half of the season due to still being only 20 while the new arrivals, Arnaut Danjuma and Pedro Porro on loans, the latter having a buy option, have been registered. Porro was also on the radar for opponents City who had the option to initiate his buy-back clause after Cancelo’s departure but let him leave to Spurs from Sporting CP.
Manager Pep Guardiola said Joao Cancelo needed playing time and hence his loan move with a buy option to Bayern Munich in the transfer window made more sense but it is not certain if he will return back to the club. The Portuguese lost his place to 18-year-old Rico Lewis and Nathan Ake anyway with the latter to fill in the left-back position for the remainder of the season. Sergio Gomez is also another option but has not been in form recently. Center-back John Stones will be unavailable for nearly a month after his hamstring injury in the FA Cup victory over Arsenal. However, Phil Foden will be back after missing the clash last weekend through a foot injury.
TOT vs MCI Predicted Lineups
TOT: Lloris; Romero, Dier, Davies; Porro, Hojbjerg, Bentancur, Perisic; Kulusevski, Kane, Son
MCI: Ederson; Rico Lewis, Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake; Ilkay Gundogan, Rodri, De Bruyne; Riyad Mahrez, Erling Haaland, Jack Grealish
TOT vs MCI Dream11 Team Prediction
GK: Ederson (6.5)
DEF: Akanji (8.5), Dias (8.5), Porro (7)
MID: Mahrez (8.5), De Bruyne (9), Perisic (8), Kulusevski (9)
FW: Son (9), Haaland (9), Kane (9)
Vice-captain: Harry Kane
Captain: Erling Haaland
Stay tuned to Dream11 and Fantasy Football for upcoming matches.
