Tottenham v Manchester City: Premier League preview
Manuel Pellegrini and his players have another opportunity to fight their corner when they take on Spurs.
Manuel Pellegrini has a chance to show the spirit in this Manchester City side when they head to Spurs.
Chelsea are all but certain to claim the Premier League title and comparisons have been made along the way between the two defences City have made of the trophy in the last three years.
In 2013 United appeared to coast to the title without any competition as the Blues ran out of steam in the second half of the season. So ragged were they by the end that it was decided to replace Roberto Mancini.
City's slide in 2015 has seen what looked like an exciting battle with Jose Mourinho's side fizzle out, and derby defeat left Manuel Pellegrini and his men fourth and thoroughly demoralised.
The Chilean has shown fight though as he fends off speculation over his job.
“I’m not happy if we don’t win the title," he said last week. "Of course I want to win the title, but if for some reason we don’t finish second I don't think it is a shame.”
His players have responded too since that miserable day at United. Two wins since - even in not entirely convincing fashion - has been enough to lift them back into second place.
In 2013, City travelled to Spurs on April 21 and led for 70 minutes but were blown away by three late goals. Four games later Mancini was gone.
His successor has an extraordinary record against the North Londoners to defend as he prepares for his fourth game against them.
Three games, three wins, fifteen goals scored and just two against. Sergio Aguero has averaged a goal every 29 minutes in those fixtures, netting four earlier this season and seven in total.
A continuation of that run will continue the momentum for Pellegrini, both against Spurs and as he looks to build for next year.
He could be helped by a Spurs side running out of steam after their lengthy season. A campaign that has seen Mauricio Pochettino's team reach the league cup final and Europa League knockout round now sees them staggering towards the end.
Just two wins from their last six league games have all but ended their top four hopes, and just one clean sheet in the 14 games played from February suggest City will get opportunities.
Team news
Yaya Toure is not fit enough to face Spurs, with the midfielder also a doubt for next week's game against QPR. Vincent Kompany and Stevan Jovetic remain sidelined.
Danny Rose could return for Pochettino's team, having missed the draw at Southampton. It's timely for Tottenham given fellow full-back Ben Davies will miss the rest of the season following shoulder surgery.
Manchester City (from): Hart, Caballero, Zabaleta, Sagna, Demichelis, Mangala, Boyata, Clichy, Kolarov, Milner, Navas, Silva, Nasri, Fernando, Fernandinho, Lampard, Aguero, Bony, Dzeko.
TEAM NEWS
Tottenham's Ben Davies has been ruled out for the rest of the season after undergoing surgery on the shoulder he dislocated against Southampton.
Fellow left-back Danny Rose is a doubt, so Vlad Chiriches is set to deputise.
Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure will be absent due to the hamstring strain he picked up against Aston Villa.
Vincent Kompany and Stevan Jovetic again miss out, but Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy are back in contention.
MATCH PREVIEW
It says something about the paucity of the challenge to Chelsea this season that Manchester City can be second in the Premier League table despite having lost four consecutive games away from home.
By their standards, City have been hovering somewhere between poor and average for much of this campaign.
Recent history tells us that for a Manchester City manager to keep his job he must win the Premier League. We have no way of knowing if a City boss could survive failing in the Premier League by winning the Champions League, because it has never looked like happening.
Lawro's prediction |
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"Manchester City have not been too convincing recently, although they have won their last two games to make sure of a top-four place. Their aim now must be to try to remain unbeaten until the end of the season."
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But given that Manuel Pellegrini has fallen well short on both counts, it's fair to say that his time is almost up. Expect a chunk of City's ageing team to be dispensed with too - the average age of their 18-man squad for last week's game against Villa was only a fraction under 30.
Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino has been talking about the need for a 'big summer' at White Hart Lane. His squad is still dominated by players signed in the aftermath of Gareth Bale's move to Madrid - and there's a feeling that they've been treading water whilst wearing a Harry Kane-shaped lifebelt.
Spurs have to plan for the possibility that Kane's second season will be less productive than his first, and continuing to squeeze the odd game and goal out of Adebayor and Soldado is not really a viable option. Finding a second reliable striker - and keeping the excellent Hugo Lloris - must be top of their summer wish list.
As for Sunday, Spurs have a habit of losing heavily to City - 15 conceded in their last three meetings - but I wouldn't be too surprised if City's losing run away from home continues.
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
- Tottenham have lost seven of the last eight Premier League matches against Manchester City, who have won the three most recent meetings by 6-0, 5-1 and 4-1.
- In October's reverse fixture, four penalties were awarded in a Premier League game for only the second time - matching Bradford v Derby in April 2000.
Tottenham
- Spurs have taken just eight points from their nine matches against the five teams above them going into the weekend's fixtures.
- Tottenham have conceded 49 goals, the highest tally among clubs in the top half of the table. Only Sunderland, Leicester, Burnley, Newcastle and QPR have let in more prior to the weekend.
- They have kept just one clean sheet in their last 11 league games.
- Spurs are the first team this season to have three players reach double figures for Premier League goals: Harry Kane (20), Christian Eriksen (10) and Nacer Chadli (10).
- Eriksen has scored an unrivalled seven winning goals in the top division this season.
Manchester City
- Despite back-to-back wins, they have managed just seven victories in their 15 league matches in 2015.
- They could lose five successive away league games for the first time since April 2006.
- City have conceded eight goals in their last four matches.
- Sergio Aguero has scored nine goals in six Premier League appearances against Spurs, while Edin Dzeko has six in six league games.
- Aguero has scored four goals in his last three league games after going five without scoring. He has contributed to 27 goals in his 29 league appearances this season, scoring 21 times and providing six assists.
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