Manchester City v Tottenham Betting Preview

In the last fifteen years Tottenham have had a very impressive record against Manchester City, winning 11 out of the previous 15 meetings. But, during City’s transformation over the last three seasons this form seems to have dipped with Manchester City winning each of the last three meetings between the two sides, including a 90^th minute Ballotelli penalty to clinch the game at the Etihad last season.  Matches between these two sides always lives up to expectation with controversy and exceptional play and the game on Sunday promises to be an exciting encounter. Get the latest free bets for this match.

Both teams played in Europe in the week and fielded their strongest sides. Manchester City had a disappointing performance at home to Ajax drawing 2-2, whilst Tottenham Jermaine Defoe netted an impressive hat-trick as Tottenham eased passed Maribor 3-1.

Team News:

Manchester City will still be without main-man Silva on Sunday due to injury but should be boosted with the likelihood of Sergio Aguero returning to the starting line up in the Premier League after he started and scored against Ajax midweek. Mancini is set to start with Tevez and Aguero up front; a menacing partnership with 7 league goals between the two strikers this season. Meanwhile Tottenham are still without the injured Scott Parker and are set to start with a similar team to their last game with no further injury news.  Top goal scorer Jermaine Defoe is likely to start as a lone striker again with tricky wingers Lennon and Bale playing just behind.

Preview:

Manchester City come into this game on the back of some very poor performances and the disappointment of their very likely departure from the Champions League.  Their last three Premier League games have seen City win two and draw one. But that doesn’t tell the whole story. In fact the league champions have struggled in each of those games and have been lucky to win any of them. Dzeko rescued 10 men City at West Brom with two late goals, Swansea missed hapless chances at the Etihad and West Ham were arguably the better side at Upton Park last week. Furthermore, Manchester City’s recent performances in the Champions League have been woeful and they have been punished by the Dutch champions, Ajax, meaning they are likely to drop out at the group stages. A 3-1 loss away from home and a disappointing 2-2 draw at the Etihad on Tuesday has almost certainly meant that they are not going to have Champions League success this season.

However, having said that, Manchester City are unbeaten in 34 Premier League home games with only Chelsea and Manchester United having longer unbeaten runs to date. They are still near the top of the table despite their recent performance and the old cliché stats that a team that wins when playing poorly is a good team – a championship winning team. But this record may be in danger of being lost of Sunday as Manchester City are leaking goals and finding it difficult to break teams down. It is no secret that City are missing the creative Spanish midfielder David Silva as he has been the catalyst of Manchester City in recent seasons. Without Silva City look a different team, a weaker team. But Mancini will be hoping that Nasri and Yaya Toure can bolster up the midfield and create chances for Argentinean duo Tevez and Aguero on Sunday.

The Tottenham manager is seemingly starting to come under pressure with the Spurs fans as he was criticised on Saturday when he took leading goal scorer Jermaine Defoe off when Tottenham were screaming out for a goal scorer. The Tottenham fans showed their disappointed and the boos rung around the ground, signalling that Villas Boas may be under pressure. After a decent start Villas Boas seems to be struggling to get his new Tottenham team flowing and especially at home where they have played poorly all season. However, away from home it is a different story with Spurs winning their last three away league fixtures at Southampton, Man United and Reading. Another away win at the Etihad on Sunday would see Tottenham win four away games on the bounce – a feat they have not achieved since April 1989.

In my opinion it all depends on how Spurs approach the game and that will determine what kind of result we see on Sunday. Villas Boas can either choose to ‘park the bus’ and go for the draw or he can do what Spurs did in their historic win at Old Trafford and play on the offensive with Defoe, Bale and Lennon being the main outlets. Tottenham will have a fantastic chance of winning at the Etihad on Sunday if they approach the game in a positive manner.

Last five league matches:

DWWWW                                                                           

West Ham 0-0 Manchester City

Manchester City 1-0 Swansea

West Brom 1-2 Manchester City

Manchester City 3-0 Sunderland

Fulham 1-2 Manchester City

LWLWW

Tottenham 0-1 Wigan

Southampton 1-2 Tottenham

Tottenham 2-4 Chelsea

Tottenham 2-0 Aston Villa

Manchester United 2-3 Tottenham

HEAD-2-HEAD:

Manchester City 3-2 Tottenham

Tottenham 1-5 Manchester City

Manchester City 1-0 Tottenham

Tottenham 0-0 Manchester City

Manchester City 0-1 Tottenham

Tottenham 3-0 Manchester City

Prediction:

This is a very hard game to predict as neither team are in-form at the moment, but both are capable of winning this game. So small stakes are advisable. Manchester City had two very impressive victories against Tottenham last year, scoring 8 goals in the two games. However, City are not playing as well as they were last season and are struggling to break teams down and were lucky to win any of their last three games. As this is an extremely tough game to predict I have sided with value going with Gareth Bale to score in a Tottenham win at a massive 12/1 with William Hill. Bale has been in impressive form of late scoring two in his last four in all competitions and with the midfielder scoring a fantastic goal at the Etihad last season I like his chances to do so again. Furthermore, I feel that City may struggle to cope with his pace and aerial ability; a surprising stat this season is that City have conceded a higher percentage of goals this season from set-pieces this season than any other Premier League team.

Highlighted Bets:

1)      Belgian defender Jan Vertonghen has made an impressive start to life as a Tottenham player since his summer move from Dutch champions Ajax. He scored the crucial opener in Spurs’ historic 3-2 win at Old Trafford last month and will be looking to do the same at the Etihad on Sunday. The defender has a proven scoring record managing to find the back of the net 8 times in 31 league games last season for Ajax and has come close on numerous occasions for Tottenham this season. Having already highlighted City’s frailties at defending from set-pieces I think it is great value for Vertonghen to score anytime against them this weekend. With the exceptional deliveries from Bale it is likely that Vertonghen will have a great chance at scoring and at a whopping 7/1 to score anytime this bet is advisable.

2)      Both teams are scoring more goals in the second half of games this season and with both teams finding more late on a bet on goals in the second half may be rewarded. For there to be over 1.5 goals in the second half it is 10/11 and for over 2.5 it is 11/4. Two bets that offer fantastic value and with both teams vulnerable of conceding goals this game is likely to have lots of goals. In each of their last five games the second half has produced the most goals. Therefore a bet on over 1.5 goals in the second half is a safe but rewarding bet, but if you feel that there may be more goals a slightly more risky bet would be to back over 2.5 second half goals at 11/4.

Recap:

• Gareth Bale to score and Tottenham to win @ 12/1
• Jan Vertonghen to score anytime @ 7/1
• Over 1.5 second half goals @ 10/11
• Over 2.5 second half goals @ 11/4

Read more betting previews for upcoming matches in our betting tips section. If you fancy a free bet for this match, or any upcoming event, check out the £25 free bet offer from Blue Square.

Article by Mark Stefanyszyn

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