Manchester City will be looking to keep pace with Premier League frontrunners Arsenal when they host Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday night.
Man City find themselves second in the table – eight points behind the Gunners – although they could drop to third if Manchester United beat Crystal Palace on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Tottenham sit fifth – five points outside the top four and six points shy of Man City. Can Antonio Conte’s side close the gap ahead of the weekend’s fixtures?
Pep Guardiola’s team head into Thursday’s clash on the back of a 2-1 derby defeat to Man Utd, despite enjoying a whopping 71% possession at Old Trafford.
Jack Grealish gave Man City the lead on 60 minutes before Bruno Fernandes equalised, with Marcus Rashford scoring the winner on 82 minutes.
City have now lost three of their 18 Premier League games this season, picking up 12 wins and three draws along the way.
When you look at the bigger picture, the Cityzens have lost just nine of their previous 71 games in all competitions – meaning they will be confident of avoiding defeat on Thursday.
Just like Man City, Tottenham suffered a derby defeat last time out – losing 2-0 to arch-rivals Arsenal – despite chalking up 17 shots on home soil.
That was Tottenham’s sixth loss in 19 league games this term, with ten wins and three draws coming in the process.
There is no hiding the fact that Spurs have been wildly inconsistent this season. Indeed, they have only managed to win one of their last four league outings – losing five of their previous nine.
Although Conte’s men have lost just two of their past 14 away games in the Premier League, they will struggle to avoid defeat on Thursday.
Head-to-head: Let’s not forget that Tottenham beat Man City 3-2 when the teams last met back in February 2022, meaning five of the last six meetings have dished up over 1.5 goals.
Across the past 11 league meetings, Man City have claimed five wins, while Spurs have claimed four. The other two matches ended in a draw.
Team news: Man City look set to be without the injured centre-back pairing of Ruben Dias and John Stones on Thursday.
As for Tottenham, they also have two injury absentees – with Rodrigo Bentancur and Lucas Moura expected to miss the trip to the Etihad.
Given the recent results between these two sides, we should see plenty of goals on Thursday. That said, Man City are expected to come out on top.
Forbet predicts that Man City and Tottenham will combine for over 4.5 goals, with Guardiola’s men outscoring Spurs.
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