IT feels inconceivable that Manchester City could lose five games in a row. Then again, the same was said when they headed to Brighton, with Pep Guardiola in danger of losing four consecutive matches for the first time in his managerial career.
An excellent and energized second-half performance from the Seagulls made the implausible a grim reality for the multiple title winners.
It is a wholly uncharacteristic slump into mediocrity largely brought about by injuries, the most damaging being a season-long deprival of their Ballon d’Or-winning metronome Rodri.
In recent weeks it has genuinely shocked witnessing how straightforward it is to bypass City’s midfield. Time after time a routine pass finds an opponent in space in the attacking third, or they are set free to run at an exposed back-line and what is increasingly becoming clear is that even the Catalan grandmaster is struggling to find a solution to the midfielder’s absence.
Frankly, doubling up with Ilkay Gundogan and Mateo Kovacic is just not cutting it, their combined lack of pace and dynamism prohibitive in build-up and costly out of possession.
This ongoing, significant Achilles Heel brings us to Spurs who, for all of their own problems – which we’ll get to shortly – have broke on City more impactfully and consistently in recent years than any other team, with the possible exception of Liverpool.
Indeed there is a vignette that is all-too-familiar to City fans, that of Son Heung-min spinning into a channel and cleverly found. Mere seconds later he is bearing down on goal.
The Korean striker has four goal involvements in his last three visits to the Etihad, his most recent goal originating from a City corner.
The Spurs captain is not the only individual who typically thrives in this fixture, with Dejan Kulusevski boasting five goal involvements in five league meetings and it should concern the hosts that the Swede has created the most chances from open play this season of anyone in the top-flight (25).
Add James Maddison into the mix and the visitors absolutely have sufficient attacking chops to fully capitalize on any persisting gremlins in the City machine.
The big question though, in fact the defining question going into this clash, is whether those gremlins will still be there?
It’s fair to say that the international break came at just the right time for an imperious creation in dire need of a reset and it’s a pertinent detail that Guardiola will potentially have eight players to bring back into the fold, their availability ranging from probable to 50/50 to doubtful.
It is also pertinent to point out that Erling Haaland has converted every 82 minutes this term, his tally of 12 the same as Manchester United in their entirety!
Yet, when assessing City’s threats it is elsewhere where value is found, a player who is still to get off the mark for his new club after tearing things up with Girona in La Liga last season.
Savinho has accumulated the highest xG (1.7) of any player minus a goal to their name in 2024/25, a figure that derives from taking on 1.9 shots per 90.
Against Spurs in the League Cup last month he was fouled three times over as Tottenham’s rearguard struggled to contain his wing wizardry. Destiny Udogie can expect a similarly tough afternoon here.
Whether it’s the players mentioned above or someone else who comes to the fore this Saturday teatime what we can almost certainly bank on are goals plural and no little drama. Such is the way when Spurs play away at City.
The last three encounters at the Etihad have finished 3-3, 4-2 and 2-3, while the last 14 have conjured up an average of 4.5 goals per 90 mins, and if both teams have issues to work on that only adds to the promise of Ederson and Vicario being kept on their toes.
As for the timing of these virtually inevitable goals we cannot ignore that the last five conceded by Ange Postecoglou’s men have all come before the break while the latest City have opened their account at home all season is 32 minutes in. It’s typically in the second-half when the Blues have dipped and remarkably only five top-flight clubs have scored fewer goals in the second period.
Switching our attention back to Spurs, though they have mainly been poor on the road this season they usually show up in Manchester. Moreover, with City enduring an identity crisis this is the very last match-up they would choose at this juncture, what with Tottenham having the better head-to-head record in the modern era.
The visitors will be acutely aware of this and psychologically that’s a plus.
But inconsistency continues to blight their campaign, taking two steps back seemingly every time they put together a decent result. A propensity to concede first hasn’t exactly helped their cause either.
In many ways, their defeat to Ipswich prior to the international break starkly reveals who they are and where they are at present. First they make a rod for their own back, with lapses in concentration leaving them trailing. Then they go all buccaneering and sometimes brilliant in an attempt to readdress the situation.
Against the Tractor Boys, Solanke and co. accrued 11 shots in the second-half, on this occasion to no avail.
They also incidentally racked up nine corners beyond the break and corners should definitely play a part in your bet selections here. Between them, City and Spurs have accumulated a hefty 204 already this term.
It is also notable that only 27% of their combined fixtures have seen either themselves or their opponents keep a clean sheet.
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