Premier League Big Match Focus: How to back an 11/1 bet builder in Spurs v Man City

Tom Victor
04 February 2023
4:00 min read

Pep Guardiola has never won at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester City
Sun 5 Feb, 15:30

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In this week's Big Match Focus, Tom Victor previews Spurs v Man City as Pep Guardiola chases a first win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium...

Spurs struggling at home
Kane chasing 200th PL goal
Mahrez against favourite opponents

Less than a month has passed since Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur faced off in the Premier League, and now they have to do it all over again,

Back in January, two goals moments before the break seemed to put Spurs in control. City fought back in a big way, though, with goals from Júlian Álvarez and Erling Haaland bringing them level before a Riyad Mahrez double sealed victory.

Both teams have played once in the league and once in the FA Cup since then, and neither has conceded a goal.

City beat Wolves 3-0 in the league and Arsenal 1-0 in the cup, while Spurs' cup win at Preston was by three goals while a single Harry Kane effort was enough for three league points at Fulham.

Transfer window fallout

Head to Head History

Wins

Draws

Goals

Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester City Sunday 05 February, 15:30

Full stats

It was a relatively quiet deadline day for City. No players came in, but João Cancelo and Luke Mbete both left on loan, to Bayern Munich and Bolton Wanderers respectively.

That meant Maximo Perrone remains the only new addition to Pep Guardiola's squad. The midfielder might not be involved this weekend, though, as he has recently returned from international duty with Argentina's under-20s at the South American championships.

Spurs had a busier end to January. They finally wrapped up a deal for Pedro Porro, with the right-back essentially replacing Matt Doherty amid the Irish international's move to Atlético Madrid on deadline day, while there were also late loan exits for Djed Spence and Harvey White.

As well as Porro, Spurs could give new forward Arnaut Danjuma his first Premier League minutes. The forward has joined on loan from Villarreal, and scored on his debut against Preston.

Spurs' leaky backline

Home manager Antonio Conte will hope Porro's arrival helps shore up a defence which has been far from impressive of late. Spurs have conceded two or more in each of their last five home league games - an unwanted record for them in the Premier League era - and the 4-3 victory over Leeds in November was the only one of those five matches not to end in defeat.

Their visitors, meanwhile, have scored in all but one of their away league games this term. However, Spurs may take some hope from the fact that Pep Guardiola's team have lost two of their last five on the road after losing just two of their previous 37 - including, of course, a reverse at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last season.

Spurs' back-to-back home league defeats, of course, leaves them at risk of another record they would rather not hold. You have to go back to September 2008 to find a run of three straight home league defeats for the London side, during the run which eventually saw Juande Ramos lose his job as manager.

Pep clawing things back

The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is a relatively new ground, but the sight of Pep Guardiola going 0 for 4 at any stadium is still a notable one. Not only that, but his City side have failed to score in any of those four trips.

If the visitors want to change that this time, Mahrez might be the key once more. His two goals and one assist at home to Spurs brought his overall tally against the Lilywhites up to 11 in total - more than the Algeria international has managed against any other Premier League club.

There's also the small matter of Haaland, who wasn't present for any of those four defeats at Spurs. The Norwegian already has 25 league goals and only two others - Andy Cole and Kevin Phillips - have hit 30 in their maiden Premier League seasons.

Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City prediction

Tottenham Hotspur

Manchester City

Southampton 3 3 Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur 3 1 Nottingham Forest
Tottenham Hotspur 0 0 AC Milan
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 0 Tottenham Hotspur
Sheffield United 1 0 Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur 2 0 Chelsea

Manchester City 4 1 Liverpool
Manchester City 6 0 Burnley
Manchester City 7 0 RB Leipzig
Crystal Palace 0 1 Manchester City
Manchester City 2 0 Newcastle United
Bristol City 0 3 Manchester City

Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester City Sunday 05 February, 15:30

Full stats

There is a completely free £2 Bet Builder on any Premier League game this weekend, and we have our eye on Kevin De Bruyne. The City playmaker has seen 23% of his open play passes make it into the opposition area - a high water mark for anyone with 300 or more passes in this season's Premier League.

This could well be the game where City finally get the job done at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, though Harry Kane - who needs one more goal to join the Premier League's elite 200 Club - will surely attempt to stand in their way. City to win, with De Bruyne registering an assist and Kane hitting two or more shots on target, is available at 11.69.

City win, De Bruyne assist and Kane 2+ shots on target @

11.69

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