Manchester City - Tottenham will be an epic clash at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday (start time 12:30pm ET on NBC and online via NBCSports.com) as Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho lock horns once again.
STREAM MANCHESTER CITY - TOTTENHAM LIVE
Man City sit top of the table and have been in imperious form in recent months, winning 10-straight games in the Premier League to surge up the table. In fact, the last time they dropped points was in their defeat at Tottenham in November and these teams have had plenty of tight battles in recent seasons.
That recent win for Spurs proves that Harry Kane and Heung-min Son can cause Man City problems on the counter and Mourinho will surely be setting up another defensive masterclass against a Guardiola side. That said, given the form Man City are in (even without Kevin de Bruyne and Sergio Aguero), it will be a tall order for eighth-place Spurs to get anything this time around as they keep pushing for a top four spot.
Spurs were dumped out of the FA Cup in a 5-4 defeat at Everton in midweek, so that could play a part in this game too, and Gareth Bale’s injury situation continues to puzzle everyone from Mourinho to fans to pundits and back again.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Manchester City - Tottenham, as Mourinho is usually kryptonite for Guardiola.
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Injury news
Manchester City are without Kevin de Bruyne, Fernandinho and Nathan Ake as they work their way towards full fitness but KDB seem to be close to a return. Aguero returns and is on the bench, with Ruben Dias also on the bench and Rodri is back after overcoming a small problem.
Here's how we line-up against Spurs 💪
— Manchester City (@ManCity) February 13, 2021
XI | Ederson, Cancelo, Stones, Laporte, Zinchenko, Rodrigo, Gundogan, Bernardo, Sterling (C), Foden, Jesus
SUBS | Steffen, Walker, Dias, Aguero, Torres, Mendy, Mahrez, Garcia, Doyle
⚽️ @HaysWorldwide
🔷 #ManCity | https://t.co/axa0klD5re pic.twitter.com/Lpr9Qfky9h
Tottenham have a few injury concerns, but Dele Alli is fit enough to be on the bench. Serge Aurier, Giovani Lo Celso and Sergio Reguilon are all out with injuries, while Gareth Bale is on the bench after the bizarre situation where he missed the FA Cup defeat at Everton in midweek but posted on Instagram he was okay.
𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦 🟢 Lloris (C), Tanganga, Sanchez, Dier, Davies, Hojbjerg, Ndombele, Lamela, Lucas, Son, Kane.@WilliamHill ⚪️ #COYS pic.twitter.com/Pa8MBuClBL
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) February 13, 2021
What they’re saying
Pep Guardiola on losing to Spurs earlier this season: “We did really well. We lost because they were better in many aspects than us in that game. You see the quality of the players they have and the manager, it’s a strong team. We have to do better tomorrow to beat them.”
Jose Mourinho on trying to get the balance right: “It looks a very simple answer, but it is the way it is. You need to play very, very well. And if you play very well offensively, maybe you score a couple of goals, but if you don’t play well defensively, maybe you concede three or four. And vice-versa. If you play very well defensively, maybe you even concede a goal, but if you play defensively you are not going to have a chance of scoring goals. So, you have to play perfectly, and the perfect team in the perfect match is that, a team able to defend very well and not make mistakes and a team capable of playing with the confidence to go, to attack, to create chances and try to score goals. It looks very simple, but it’s quite complicated. You have to play a perfect match.”
Odds and ends (full odds provided by our partner, PointsBet)
Manchester City (-304) are the heavy favorites, while Tottenham are at a huge price of +700 to win. The draw at +450 seems very intriguing.
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Prediction
There is something about Mourinho against Guardiola which brings out the best in the former and the worst in the latter. I’m going to go for Spurs to cause problems for City on the counter and grab a point on the road. Manchester City 2-2 Tottenham.
How to watch Manchester City - Tottenham stream and start time
Kick off: 12:30pm ET, SaturdayTV Channel: NBCOnline: Stream via NBCSports.com