The Spurs are preparing for a difficult match.
On Manchester City affairs
– The “citizens” often suspiciously lose points in the current championship. A week earlier they failed to put Liverpool under pressure when such an opportunity arose – and in response they received a goal in the 80th minute (1:1). Before that, we found ourselves in the middle of a fight with Chelsea. The “aristocrats” did not want to give up 3 points to the league leaders: they immediately came back after Haaland’s goal, then took the lead. City responded with goals from Akanji and Erling, and Jackson again equalized for the hosts. Shortly before the final whistle they scored another goal. But difficulties arose even before that. Before the October break for the national team matches, for example, there were 3 defeats in 4 matches, including the one against Wolverhampton.
– It’s inside nuclear submarine The environment is such that a couple of misfires are enough to lose the lead in the standings. This is exactly what happened to Josep Guardiola’s team: two draws put them in second place and Arsenal took the lead.
– City doesn’t have many injured players: this allows Pep to distribute the load equally among the players. Josko Guardiola rested after the match against Chelsea so that he could recover for the match Champions League against Leipzig. He came out in the usual combination with Dias and Walker. Doku gave up his place on the left wing to the more experienced Grealish, Rodri with Akanji in the support area and Foden on the right remained at the start. Under Holland, instead of Alvarez, Lewis appeared paired with Bernardo Silva.
– And the teams put on a show – at the restart the guests were leading with 2 goals. The shot was designed by Lois Openda. In the second half, the “Citizens” changed their formation: Nathan Ake came on instead of Dias, and after Haaland’s goal Alvarez appeared on the field instead of Kyle Walker. In the 70th minute, equality was restored on the scoreboard – and already in the 87th minute, the recently released Alvarez brought victory to City.
– In any case, the “sky blues” acted calmly and confidently. There was no threat to them: the team had already guaranteed a place in the playoffs. Now the gap between second-placed Leipzig is 6 points.
– The team has overcome a difficult period of the calendar well. Despite dropping points against Chelsea and Liverpool, City beat Leipzig. Now it’s Tottenham and Aston Villa’s turn. There will only be 2 days between matches for recovery.
Manchester City lineup (3-4-2-1): Ederson – Dias, Ake, Walker – Doku, Rodri, Akanji, Foden – Alvarez, Silva – Haaland.
On Tottenham affairs
– Until November things were going well for Tottenham. The lightness of the Spurs made me fall in love; Heung-Min Son fit perfectly into the spearhead and led the rebuilt team behind him. Ange Postecoglou has already been awarded several times as best coach of the month.
– The difficulties began with a series of injuries. Currently Solomon, Perisic, van de Ven and Phillips are not available for the London coach. But the loss of Richarlison and Maddison was a blow. The latter generally became a constituent element of the system that organized the majority of Tottenham’s attacks.
– Personnel problems quickly spilled over onto the playing field. After the devastating defeat in the Chelsea derby, Postecoglou’s team lost to Wolverhampton and Aston Villa (both times – 1:2).
– Yet what is happening is partly logical. It is impossible for an inexperienced coach to transform a team in crisis into a championship contender in just a few months. Just recently, almost the same composition could not withstand the competition in the top 5. With injuries, of course, there is an anomaly, but it highlighted in time the gaps that the management will have to fill. First of all, the team lacks depth.
– Meanwhile, the London team has lost the lead in the Premier League (although City has also lost it). And he quickly found himself on the fringes of the top 5 – 26 points after 13 rounds. They are 2 points behind Villa and Liverpool. Meanwhile they are running out Manchester United and Newcastle. The former scored 24 points, the latter 23. Moreover, these teams will face each other today. In this “meat grinder” it will be extremely difficult for the renewed “Spurs” – at least in parallel Champions League you don’t have to play.
Tottenham’s provisional lineup (4-2-3-1): Vicar – Udoji, Davis, Emerson, Porro – Bentancur, Bissouma – Gil, Kulusevski, Johnson – Son.
About the fight
– “City” was and remains the hegemon of the Premier League, but “Tottenham” is an uncomfortable opponent for the “citizens”. In the last 20 direct clashes the teams have achieved 9 wins and two draws.
– And in three of the previous four games the victory went to the Spurs. In February they held the 1:0 low. The year before they had taken 3 points from the Etihad in a high-scoring clash (3:2).
– There is definitely no need to wait for a draw in an important match: the last time the “blues” and the Londoners failed to determine the winner was 4 years ago. The match in Manchester ended with the score 2:2. None of the authors of those four goals are already in the team: Lamela has gone to Sevilla, Moura plays for San Paolo, Aguero has retired and Sterling has joined the Chelsea team.
Forecast Soccer.ru: Postecoglou must urgently do something to counteract the uncontrolled fall: move back into the area Champions League With such competition it is almost impossible. But Spurs’ problems haven’t gone away. Furthermore, City have already gone winless for two consecutive rounds and will not continue their losing streak in front of their home fans. A victory for City will help maintain the minimum distance from Arsenal in the fight for leadership.
