MX23RW : Friday, November 22 22:33:11| >> :120:9845:9845:
[monks data]
Manchester City logo
Premier League
Oct 18, 2014 at 12.45pm UK
 
Spurs logo

4-1

Aguero (13', 20' pen., 68' pen., 75')
FT(HT: 2-1)
Eriksen (15')

Preview: Manchester City vs. Tottenham Hotspur

Sports Mole previews the first fixture of the Premier League weekend as Manchester City host Tottenham Hotspur, whom they beat by an 11-1 aggregate last season.

The Premier League returns with a bang on Saturday lunchtime as the weekend fixture list kicks off with champions Manchester City hosting Tottenham Hotspur.

The Citizens beat Spurs by an aggregate of 11-1 over their two top-flight games last season.

A 6-0 humbling at the Etihad Stadium signalled the beginning of the end for Andre Villas-Boas, and his replacement Tim Sherwood was almost equally humiliated when City won 5-1 at White Hart Lane after the New Year.

So, in a way, new Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino has little to lose when he takes his side to Eastlands, and is even "confident" of getting a positive result on the back of their 1-0 victory over his former club Southampton prior to the international break.

Consecutive wins helped Manuel Pellegrini's side climb to second in the table before his star-studded squad jetted off to all corners of the globe, but three points for Spurs in Manchester will take them level with their hosts.

Yaya Toure was one of City's longest travellers in the week and may not feature on Saturday, having yet to return from the Ivory Coast after playing in their Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against DR Congo.

Fernando is on standby to come into central midfield, while the rest of the front six largely picks itself, with Samir Nasri injured and Jesus Navas, who began last year's rout of Spurs in the first minute, going through a quiet spell.

Pellegrini's selection dilemmas come in defence, where he must chose between Martin Demichelis and Eliaquim Mangala at centre-half and Gael Clichy and Aleksander Kolarov, who was playing in the abandoned game between Serbia and Albania in Belgrade on Tuesday, at left-back.

Injury casualties on an international break are almost inevitable, but Spurs may have had a lucky escape, with both Hugo Lloris and Nacer Chadli expected to play despite pulling out of games for their countries.

France goalkeeper Lloris has been in exceptional form for the Lilywhites this season, while Chadli has netted four times in six Premier League games, so Pochettino will be desperate for them both to start.

Should Chadli remain a fitness concern, though, the visiting boss may opt to reinforce the middle of the park, with either Nabil Bentaleb or Mousa Dembele coming in alongside Ryan Mason and Etienne Capoue.

Eric Dier, along with Harry Kane, was part of the England Under-21s side that qualified for Euro 2015 on Tuesday, and will be recalled at right-back, with both Kyle Naughton and Kyle Walker long-term absentees.

Recent form

Man City: WDWWDL

Spurs: WDDWLD

Possible starting lineups

Man City: Hart; Zabaleta, Mangala, Kompany, Clichy; Milner, Fernandinho, Fernando, Silva; Dzeko, Aguero

Spurs: Lloris; Dier, Kaboul, Vertonghen, Rose; Capoue, Mason, Dembele; Eriksen, Lamela, Adebayor

Sports Mole says: 3-0


ID:182858: cacheID:182858:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:7783:No Data Analysis info

Previews by email

Click here to get Sports Mole's daily email of previews and predictions for every major game!


Restore Data
Share this article now:
Man City's Joe Hart in action against Viktoria Plzen during their Champions League group match on November 27, 2013
Read Next:
Team News: Hart starts, Benteke on bench
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
FT
Steelers
19-24
Browns
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool119112161528
2Manchester CityMan City117222213923
3Chelsea115422113819
4Arsenal115421812619
5Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest115421510519
6Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton115421915419
7Fulham115331613318
8Newcastle UnitedNewcastle115331311218
9Aston Villa115331717018
10Tottenham HotspurSpurs1151523131016
11Brentford115152222016
12Bournemouth114341515015
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd114341212015
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham113351319-612
15Leicester CityLeicester112451421-710
16Everton112451017-710
17Ipswich TownIpswich111551222-108
18Crystal Palace11146815-77
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves111371627-116
20Southampton11119721-144


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!