Tottenham vs Manchester City Prediction, Odds & Picks

• Manchester City are once again the favorites to win the Bundesliga title
• Tottenham will hope to qualify for the Champions League with a top-four finish
• City could drop points on the opening weekend of the campaign

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Tottenham vs Manchester City Odds

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Tottenham vs Manchester City Pick

Manchester City will almost certainly finish higher up the Premier League table than Tottenham this season. Yet they are not fully up to speed yet and could be frustrated by a determined Spurs side.

Our Pick:

Back a tie in this one (+320)

How to Watch Tottenham vs Manchester City

Manchester City Still the Team to Beat in the Title Race

Manchester City were involved in the season’s traditional curtain-raiser last weekend, as they took on Leicester City in this year’s edition of the Community Shield. Pep Guardiola named an under-strength side and City struggled to get going at Wembley, as Leicester secured a 1-0 win. It is important not to read too much into these games, though. For proof that victory in the Community Shield does not necessarily indicate a successful season lies ahead, consider that Arsenal lifted the trophy in 2020.

Manchester City, the defending champions, are deservedly favorites to win the Premier League title this term. They may well be pushed harder than they were last term, with Liverpool, Chelsea, and Manchester United all looking stronger. But City themselves have also improved, adding Jack Grealish to their pool of talented attackers for a Premier League record transfer fee of £100m. Harry Kane, Tottenham’s talisman, could be the next one through the door.

Signing the England captain would surely make City uncatchable. The absence of a genuine No.9 last season (Guardiola tended to overlook Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero, who has since joined Barcelona, in the bigger games) did not appear to hurt City. But buying the Premier League’s best striker to play alongside this team’s other star forwards would put City on another level. It is not just Tottenham fans who hope Kane will still be in north London come to the end of the transfer window.

For all the talk of City’s fabulous attacking quality, Guardiola’s side also had the best defensive record last season. Aymeric Laporte and John Stones will be battling it out to partner the excellent Ruben Dias in the heart of the backline, with Ederson a reliable goalkeeper behind them. City will take some stopping this year – with or without Kane.

Editor’s Pick:

• Premier League 2021 Top Scorer 
• Premier League 2020/21 Relegation 
• Premier League 2020/21 Title Winner

Tottenham Must Get Closer to the Champions League Places

It looked at one stage last season that Tottenham were going to challenge for the Premier League title; indeed, they were top of the table in the middle of December, as opinions abounded that pandemic soccer suited Jose Mourinho’s style. But Spurs fell away in the second half of the campaign and only managed to scrape a seventh-place finish after Mourinho had been sacked in April.

A 72-day search for a replacement eventually landed on Nuno Espirito Santo, after pursuits of Antonio Conte, Mauricio Pochettino and Paulo Fonseca proved fruitless. Many were underwhelmed by Nuno’s appointment, and the Portuguese did indeed have a disappointing season with Wolverhampton Wanderers last time out. He did some fine work at Molineux before that, though, and Spurs’ signings of Cristian Romero and Bryan Gil look promising.

Whether or not Tottenham have a successful season – which means qualification for the Champions League or winning a trophy – depends above all on Kane’s future. The club’s interest in Inter forward Lautaro Martinez is supposedly not an indication that they are ready to sell their prized asset, but Kane clearly wants to leave and it will be a nervous wait until the end of the window. If the striker does end up staying put, even if it is against his own wishes, Spurs will believe a top-four finish is within their grasp.

Manchester City the Better Team but Could Be Held by Spurs

Manchester City named a weakened starting XI for their defeat by Leicester last weekend and they may be forced to do something similar here. Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden are both out injured. Raheem Sterling, John Stones and Kyle Walker are unlikely to be match fit having only recently returned from their post-European Championship holidays. Ederson, Laporte and Jesus were also missing at Wembley.

This City squad has worked under Guardiola for years now, but we could still see a bit of rustiness in their play on Sunday. The players will not be operating at full physical capacity yet, and Grealish may well be tasked with taking on a prominent director role despite having only recently moved to the Etihad Stadium.

Tottenham, of course, are not immune from those issues, and Kane is unlikely to start having not yet trained with the rest of the squad. But in such circumstances, it is easier to implement a defend-and-counter approach than a possession-based one, and Spurs will be relatively comfortable sitting deep, allowing City the ball and then breaking forward at pace.

Son Heung-min could be key in that regard. The South Korean has a good record against City, who have lost 100 per cent of their visits to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium up to now. Son’s speed will ask questions of City, who could struggle to break down the opposition’s rearguard in the first game back after an 11-week break. A tie is the way to go in this one.