Manchester City face Tottenham for the third time in 11 days and they will seek to avenge the Champions League elimination as they host them in a crucial Premier League match for both the title race and top 4 implications.
Manchester City and Tottenham just recently faced off in an extremely dramatic Champions League Quarter Final tie which Tottenham came through advancing on away goals which was a huge surprise as it denied Man City any hope of getting the Quadruple. Spurs took the 1st leg 1-0 at home meanwhile the 2nd leg was won by Man City in a dramatic style 4-3 in a crazy match full of emotion but as mentioned Tottenham scored more away goals and went through which City will hope to avenge by putting a dent in Spurs top 4 aspirations in the league.
Looking at the league table, Manchester City still control their destiny in the title race. City are 2 points behind Liverpool, however they have a game in hand thus meaning if City win out the rest of their games they will be crowned champions. Meanwhile Tottenham are currently 3rd in a 4 team battle to reach the top 4. Spurs are currently edging Arsenal and Chelsea by 1 point each though Chelsea have played an extra game and they’re 3 points above Man Utd so for Tottenham every league game is very important just like it is for the hosts.
Both teams are showing solid form right now. Man City have won 23 of their 25 total games in 2019 and despite being knocked out of the Champions League, they have been absolutely rolling it’s just that away game at Tottenham in the 1st leg that messed it up for them. In the Premier League, City have been absolutely on fire this year winning 12 of 13 games scoring 32 goals with the lone loss coming to Newcastle so despite the heart breaking UCL elimination, Man City have been rolling and should enter this game confident that they can win the league and start off the final stretch with a revenge win against Tottenham.
As for Tottenham, they have really started to get going since the international break. They won 3 of their last 4 with lone loss coming at the Etihad which essentially didn’t matter as they still knocked Manchester City out of the Champions League and they’ve been missing their main man Harry Kane for 2 ½ of those games. Spurs struggled a lot in the early stages of 2019, however it does look like they’ve flicked the switch again and are looking like they’ll finish the season strong.
Man City being at home is a huge advantage for them. City have won all 12 games at the Etihad in 2019 overall scoring an insane amount of 50 goals, they won 16 of 17 in the league here scoring 55 goals with lone loss coming to Crystal Palace so it is safe to say that Manchester City have a big advantage getting to play at home again against Tottenham and with their goal scoring record, it may take Spurs scoring multiple goals again to be able to compete with City which would be very hard to replicate for the visitors.
Tottenham have struggled away from home lately. 7 losses from their last 8 away games with the lone win coming at Dortmund. Although Spurs played well in their last 2 away games against Liverpool and Man City giving them tough challenges, they still lost in 90 mins so if there was a worry coming into this game, it’s again the lack of winning away from home for Spurs plus they haven’t done well defensively conceding 16 goals in these last 8 away games. They lost each of their last 4 away games in the Premier League as well.
Man City have beaten every “big 6 side” at home this season across all competitions. They beat Arsenal 3-1, Chelsea 6-0, Liverpool 2-1, Man Utd 3-1 and Tottenham 4-3 (UCL).
Spurs have not had much success away from home against the “big 6” losing 5 of 7 games winning the other 2. They beat Man Utd 0-3 and Arsenal 0-2 (EFL Cup), but they lost 2-0 and 2-1 (EFL Cup) to Chelsea, 2-1 to Liverpool, 4-2 to Arsenal in the league and 4-3 to Man City of course (UCL).
Raheem Sterling has to be the man to watch for the Citizens here. He’s been in scorching hot form in the past week scoring back to back braces for City against Palace and Tottenham 3 days ago, furthermore he’s got the tied most goal contributions with Aguero with 26 in the league as Sterling has 17G 9A. Although both of them have been similarly great, Sterling does have the form edge right now so he’s our pick as the in form man to watch.
As for Spurs, Son Heung Min is by far the most in form player right now. Yet again with Harry Kane out, he’s taken the role of goal scoring and he’s been in unreal form scoring 4 goals in his last 4 apps (Only played 4 min vs Huddersfield so technically 4 in 3 apps) and he bagged 3 goals against City over 2 legs including scoring 2 goals at the Etihad on Wednesday. If anyone will carry Spurs, it’ll more than likely be Son in this game.
Man City did defeat Spurs in the reverse game in the league 0-1. Furthermore looking at the H2H in Etihad recently, City have dominated Spurs here beating them 7 of last 9 meetings scoring 27 goals (3 per game) against the London club at home during this span. City scored 4 goals in each of last 2 home games against Tottenham as well.
Man City are clear favourites to win this game offered at 1.28 with Spurs to win being a long shot underdog at 10.90 and Draw is tipped at 6.70. Despite the Champions League elimination to Tottenham, you’d still have to consider them as big favourites here at home. City are fighting for the title while Spurs are a top 4 contender. Furthermore, City have been incredible at the Etihad all season long while Spurs have struggled away and even when they put 3 past City here, Man City still managed to win on Wednesday. Anything other than a Man City win here would definitely come as a surprise. Odds are based on Unibet.
Team News
Manchester City: Oleksandr Zinchenko is the only definite absentee. Fernandinho could be fit to play.
Tottenham Hotspur: Harry Kane, Harry Winks and Serge Aurier remain out while Moussa Sissoko is doubtful. Eric Dier may return however.
Betting Stats
Man City have covered 58.8% of their total goal overs at home in the BPL this season (10-1-6).
Man City have covered 58.8% of their total 1st half goal overs at home in the BPL this season (10-7) which is tied best in the league.
Man City average 0.76 bookings per game at home in the BPL this season (13 bookings in 17 games).
Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling have combined 27 goals at the Etihad in the BPL this season. Aguero has league’s best 15 home goals while Sterling have 12 which is 3rd best in the league in terms of goals scored at home.
Man City have covered 52.9% of their Handicaps at home in the BPL this season (9-8).
Man City have covered 52.9% of their 1st half Handicaps at home in the BPL this season (9-1-7).
Tottenham have covered 64.7% of their total goal overs away from home in the BPL this season (11-1-5) which is 3rd best in the league.
Tottenham have covered just 35.3% of their total 1st half goal overs away from home in the BPL however this season (6-11). More goals tend to come in the 2nd halves.
Tottenham average 1.88 bookings per game away from home in the BPL this season (32 bookings in 17 games).
Harry Kane is Spurs top scorer away from home with 11 away league goals, however with him out the next top scorers on Spurs travels are Son, Alli and Lucas who all have 4 away goals each in the BPL this season.
Tottenham have covered 58.8% of their Handicaps away from home in the BPL this season (10-2-5) although they have failed to cover each of their last 5 (0-2-3).
Tottenham have covered 70.6% of their 1st half Handicaps away from home in the BPL this season (12-5) which is tied best in the league.
KICK OFF – 20th April 2019 – 12:30pm UK Timeu
.png?v=1.014689135)
