Manchester City will look to overturn a 1st leg defeat as they host Tottenham in the 2nd leg of the Champions League Quarter Final.
Surprisingly, Tottenham took the 1st leg with a 1-0 win at home. Although tipped as underdogs and they lost Harry Kane duo to injury during the game, Spurs showed resilience and defeated the tie favourites thanks to a goal by Son Heung Min.
Manchester City have been on scorching hot form in the whole of 2019. Despite the loss to Spurs last week, it was only the 2nd time they failed to win since the Calendar year turn out of 24 games meaning they’ve won 22 from 24 this year. Man City also bounced back well from the 1st leg loss with an impressive 1-3 win at Crystal Palace in the league so they should be entering this game with belief that they can turn this tie around in a heartbeat considering how great City are going forward.
Spurs have also hit a good run of form during the past week and a half. Since going through the stretch where they went winless in 5 in the Premier League league, Spurs have bounced back with 3 straight wins including of course beating Man City in the 1st leg and they kept 3 clean sheets although all of those wins did come at home, that should do them well for confidence to get on a nice little roll. Spurs are coming off a dominant 4-0 win against Huddersfield at the weekend.
Man City have been ridiculously good at home this season and are playing their absolute best right now at the Etihad. Just 2 overall defeats this season with no draws at the Etihad while winning every other game. City have won all 11 of their home games at home in 2019 scoring a crazy amount of 46 goals which is just over 4 per game. That is an absolutely insane home record by the Citizens.
In the Champions League, City have won 3 of 4 home games although one of their home defeats this season did come in this competition when they lost 1-2 to Lyon in the opening game. However they won their next 3 scoring 15 goals including beating Shakhtar 6-0 and Schalke 7-0 in R16 once again showing how explosive they can be in front of their fans, the other win was 2-1 against Hoffenheim.
Furthermore, Man City have beaten every “big 6” English side at home this season defeating Chelsea 6-0, Arsenal 3-1, Man Utd 3-1 and Liverpool 2-1. Not played against Spurs though they’ll play them 2 times this week at home.
Tottenham have had a horrendous run of form on their travels losing 6 of their last 7 away from home so having a run of home games lately has definitely benefited them. Spurs only away win came against Dortmund 0-1 in this stretch, but since then they lost their next 2 most recently 2-1 to Liverpool away. During this 7 game run on their travels, Spurs have conceded 2 goals in each of their 6 losses so this definitely is a worry considering how strong their opponents are going forward.
Tottenham have been decent away from home in Europe although the record is just 1W 2D 1L, they have done well to only lose 1 game considering they travelled to Barcelona, Inter, Dortmund and PSV and all of these away days are extremely tough, even PSV. Only defeat came to Inter, however Spurs have shown they can get results at other big grounds like winning at Dortmund or drawing at Nou Camp.
Tottenham’s record against the “big 6” English sides this season away from home is 2W 0D 4L and it does include domestic cup games. Spurs lost twice to Chelsea, they split a Win and a Loss against Arsenal, their most impressive win came against Man Utd 0-3 early this season and they lost 2-1 to Liverpool and of course not played Man City yet. It’s not the best record, but they have shown they can win at big away grounds in England although none will be as tough as the Etihad.
Raheem Sterling is the in form man to watch for City. 6 goals in last 7 apps and is coming off a very good performance against Crystal Palace where he bagged 2 goals to help Man City win. He’s been great all season long and although he was a bit poor last week against Spurs, expect him to cause a lot of problems in this 2nd leg.
For Spurs, you’d have to say Son is the player to watch. When Kane is out, normally Son tends to take over as the main goal scorer on the team, he’s been their 2nd most consistent scorer all season with 15 goals and is playing good football right now having scored 2 in his last 3 apps although that 3rd app shouldn’t really count considering he only played 4 mins against Huddersfield. Son scored last week against City as well so for sure he’s going to have to deliver again if Spurs want to go through.
Looking at this season’s overall H2H, these sides met twice, Man City won the 1st match at Wembley 0-1 in the league, but Spurs of course won 1-0 last week. Both games were closely contested and as you can see not many goals were scored. However, City have dominated Tottenham at the Etihad winning 6 of last 8 (1D 1L) and they defeated them most recently here 4-1 last season. City have scored 23 goals in last 8 home games against Spurs which is nearly 3 per game. Etihad has definitely been one place where Tottenham have had a lot of nightmarish results lately which they simply cannot afford to have this week.
Man City are HUGE favourites to win this game tipped at 1.32 by the bookies with Spurs as a long shot at 10.50 and Draw tipped at 5.80. Man City are also still favoured to advance at 1.62 whereas Spurs are tipped at 2.35 despite the lead. City are obviously the better side and considering how explosive they are at home, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that they’re the favourites especially given that the margin is just one goal. City being so good at home and Spurs struggling on their travels recently is a big advantage for the hosts. Spurs will also miss their star Harry Kane which is also a blow so add all that up and all of a sudden, Man City’s chances to turn this around and win are great. Odds are based on Unibet.
Team News
Manchester City: Fabian Delph and Fernandinho will both need to be evaluated if they’re fit enough to go, otherwise everyone else are available and Pep can choose pretty much his strongest side
Tottenham Hotspur: Harry Kane is of course out meanwhile Dele Alli and Harry Winks will have to face fitness tests although Spurs expect them to be fit to play.
Betting Stats (UCL Based)
Man City have covered 50% of their total goal overs at home in the UCL this season (2-2).
Man City have covered 100% of their total 1st half goal overs at home in the UCL this season (4-0). Love an explosive start.
Man City average 0.75 bookings per game at home in the UCL this season (3 bookings in 4 games).
Gabriel Jesus is Man City’s top scorer at home in UCL with 4 home European goals. Sane is 2nd with 3. Sterling and Aguero have 2 each.
Man City have covered 50% of their Handicaps at home in the UCL this season (2-2).
Man City have covered 50% of their 1st half Handicaps at home in the UCL this season (2-2).
Tottenham have covered 50% of their total goal overs away from home in the UCL this season (2-2).
Tottenham have only covered 25% of their total 1st half goal overs away from home in the UCL this season (1-3).
Tottenham average 1.75 bookings per game away from home in the UCL this season (7 bookings in 4 games).
Lucas Moura and Harry Kane are Spurs tied top scorers away from home in the UCL with 2 away European goals. With Kane out, Moura becomes the lone available top scorer. Eriksen has the other away goal.
Tottenham have covered 50% of their Handicaps away from home in the UCL this season (2-2).
Tottenham have only covered 25% of their 1st half Handicaps away from home in the UCL this season (1-1-2).
KICK OFF – 17th April 2019 – 8pm UK Time
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