- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Manchester City can move into outright first on the EPL table when they travel to North London to face Tottenham. We’ll have live scores and commentary from 6.45am AEDT.
Andros Townsend will again be missing with a hamstring injury. Erik Lamela is also an absentee for Tottenham’s huge Premier League clash with Manchester City at White Hart Lane.
Head coach Tim Sherwood has stated he believes England wide man Townsend is at least a week away from first team action.
Jan Vertonghen, Younes Kaboul and Sandro are back in training but remain doubts as the City game may be just too soon for them.
Meanwhile, Manchester City are boosted with the news that striker Álvaro Negredo (shoulder) is back in contention.
Playmaker David Silva is itching for a return after being rested last weekend against Watford as a precaution because of a small hamstring matter.
Midfielders James Milner (groin) and Javi Garcia are out of contention but are not thought to be side-lined for long, while ex-Arsenal player Samir Nasri (knee ligament) remains a long-term casualty.
Match Notes
When these teams met at City in November, the home side won 6-0 which saw the beginning of the end for manager Andre Villas-Boas who only lasted another four league games, including his dreadful swansong, a 5-0 home shellacking by Liverpool just before Christmas.
In the intervening time however not much has changed with City – they can’t stop scoring.
However, club captain and man-mountain Vincent Kompany cautioned yesterday, “Our weakness is our strength, like any other squad that are so dominant and so attacking.
“Complacency is our biggest enemy, it’s very simple. We have six or seven players thinking offensive, and that just means we have to be super-aggressive to recover the ball quickly.
“When we don’t have the ball, ultimately we’re not as good anymore, so I think a good strength is to know how you function. This is how we function, so there’s no excuses for us not to look to get the ball back very quickly.”
Yet Spurs have improved under new appointment Tim Sherwood. They are unbeaten in all six league games winning five, (they lost 2-0 to Arsenal in the FA Cup) with a rejuvenated Emmanuel Adebayor in good form at the moment.
Match Stats
Tottenham have triumphed in seven and lost just one of their last 10 Premier League home games versus City.
Something has to give as City’s unbeaten run in all competitions now stands at an impressive 19 games – of which they’ve won 17, scoring a mightily impressive 64 goals along the way.
Coincidentally the run started with that 6-0 dismantling of Spurs at the Etihad in November.
With Spurs looking good at home under Sherwood, Chelsea at the Etihad next Monday, then Barcelona and Chelsea in the FA Cup in February the next few weeks will provide us with proof of just how good Manuel Pellegrini’s team is – and whether the ‘Quadruple’ is a headline writer’s fantasy or something far more tangible.
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.