Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur want to bounce back from respective derby defeats over the weekend in a Premier League meeting of the giants at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday evening.
Pep Guardiola’s side were defeated 2-1 by Manchester United last time out, while the Lilywhites were defeated 2-0 by North London rivals Arsenal.
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Boldly claiming that he “does not care” about the destiny of the Premier League title as his side fall further adrift of the Mikel Arteta-led Arsenal, Pep Guardiola could have arguably felt hard done by at Old Trafford, where Man United came back from a goal behind to close the gap on their noisy neighbours.
Having entered the rare territory of back-to-back defeats – also going out of their prized EFL Cup at the hands of Southampton last week – Man City remain second in the rankings but are now eight points adrift of Arsenal on the same number of games, although they will temporarily reduce that gap to five with success on Thursday.
Apparently also facing a hefty fine after Richarlison’s set-to with Ramsdale, Tottenham’s bid for Champions League qualification – and indeed their efforts to persuade Conte to agree a new contract – are faltering, as they occupy fifth position in the standings and are currently five points behind Man United having played a game more.
Indeed, the Lilywhites managed to do the double over the champions last season – spectacularly prevailing 3-2 at the Etihad – making it four wins from their last five Premier League games against Man City, but it would take a brave soul to confidently back the North Londoners to repeat recent history here.
Team News
Working without two of his primary centre-backs in Ruben Dias and John Stones for the derby, Guardiola has revealed that both men will be in contention to start this one alongside Kevin De Bruyne, who sparked concern when he missed training on Tuesday for personal reasons.
While Guardiola may decide to name Dias and Stones on the bench – with the former waiting for his first post-World Cup minutes – he is blessed the luxury of a well-rested Aymeric Laporte, and the Spain international could now force his way back in as ‘Pep roulette’ comes to the fore.
Ilkay Gundogan, Jack Grealish and Julian Alvarez should also be in contention for starting roles at the Etihad, where Erling Braut Haaland will aim to avoid going three games without a goal for just the second time in the top five European leagues.
As for Tottenham, Conte has also witnessed his treatment room empty in the past couple of weeks, with Dejan Kulusevski returning to the first XI in the North London derby and carrying the fight to the Gunners in the second half.
Possible starting lineup:
Data will be available at kick off time or sooner.
Probabilities
Manchester City (51.5%)
Draw (18.5)
Tottenham Hotspur (30.0%)
Prediction
Manchester City 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur
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