Manchester City are back at the Etihad Stadium this weekend, as they face Tottenham Hotspur, after both teams kicked off their seasons with emphatic wins. Here are the main talking points:
City gets a boost
Rodri and Phil Foden are fit and ready, and Ederson is fit that will enhance City’s capability – two were on the bench last week but are involved with the matchday squad for Pep’s first home match of the season. Josko Gvardiol, Mateo Kovacic, and winger Savinho are still out.
Assuming you see one from a 4–2–3–1 from City, expect names in the starting mix of Haaland, Reijnders, Cherki, Bobb, Marmoush.
Spurs bet on Defence
Tottenham Hotspur, under Thomas Frank are taking a five-man backline that they used in the Super Cup out of the equation in favor of a solid 4–3–3 system.
Vicario starts in goal, with a back four of Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Spence.
Sarr, Palhinha and Bentancur make up the midfield with Kudus, Richarlison, Johnson leading the attack.
So, injuries: Destiny Udogie, Yves Bissouma and Dejan Kulusevski are all out, and Tottenham are still angry with the end of their transfer window.
Final Clutch Crunch Take
With Rodri and Foden returning, City will be sharp and dangerous, but with Spurs’ new formation, they could frustrate. Expect a compact, sweaty tussle, with a lean towards City: City 3-1 Spurs. Let’s see if Etihad summersault again or if Spurs get one of theirs going.
(Image credits: Higor Douglas, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. No changes made thereto.)