Today in the Premier League, there will be two direct clashes between the top four teams. In the last 26 rounds, "Manchester City" and "Tottenham Hotspur" teams will enter the battle, separated by just one point in the standings. "Eurofootball.com" provides you with a review of these matches.
"Manchester City" vs "Tottenham Hotspur"
Date and location of the match: February 14th at 18:15 at "Etihad" Stadium in Manchester;
Referee: Mark Clattenburg;
Head-to-head history: Both teams have celebrated victory 58 times, with 34 matches ending in a draw;
Teams' form: "Manchester City" (2 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss); "Tottenham Hotspur" (4 wins, 1 loss);
Tournament situation: After 25 rounds, "Manchester City" has 47 points, holding the fourth position. The team with more points, "Tottenham Hotspur," shares the second-third place with the "Arsenal" team.
Teams' news:
"Manchester City":
"Manchester City" camp has both good and bad news. Vincent Kompany finally returns to the lineup, and David Silva, who was injured in the last round, will also be able to play in these matches. However, there are still many injured players - Kevin De Bruyne, Wilfried Bony, Jesus Navas, Eliaquim Mangala, and Samir Nasri will still not be able to help the team. In addition to the injured players list, Bacary Sagna and Fabian Delph joined last week.
Lately, "Man City" has been struggling to collect points, losing 1-3 at home in the last round to "Leicester City." The last two consecutive wins in the Premier League were back in early October, beating "Newcastle" and "Bournemouth" teams. Since then, "City" has been dropping points at least every other game.
"Tottenham Hotspur":
"Tottenham" team will only miss two players due to injuries - Jan Vertonghen and Clinton N`Jie. All other players are healthy and ready for Sunday's match.
After losing to "Leicester City" in round 21, "Spurs" have not lost and currently have a four-game winning streak in the Premier League. This is the longest winning streak of a London team this season.
Key statistics before this match:
- "Manchester City" has not won against the teams of the top four this season (3 draws, 4 losses);
- In the last five head-to-head matches against "Tottenham Hotspur" at home, "City" celebrated victories;
- "Man City" scored as many as 10 goals in the last two matches against these teams at "Etihad" Stadium;
- The 4-1 victory in the first match between these teams was only the second win in the last 11 meetings against today's opponents (2 wins, 1 draw, 8 losses);
- In the last nine head-to-head matches in the Premier League, 41 goals were scored - an average of 4.5 goals per game;
- Manuel Pellegrini's students earned 21 points in the first nine rounds, but in the remaining 16 matches, they only managed to score 26;
- During these 16 matches, "City" collected eleven points less than "Leicester City" and eight less than "Tottenham" team;
- In matches where "Manchester City" scored first, they lost only three points - the best result in the entire league (14 wins, 1 loss);
- If they lose today, "City" would stumble at home for the second time in a row since December 2008;
- Sergio Aguero has scored 10 goals in 8 games against "Tottenham." He is also the top scorer in the Premier League in 2016 with 7 goals;
- Four consecutive wins for "Tottenham Hotspur" is the longest winning streak in the Premier League currently;
- "Spurs" have the best defense in the Premier League, allowing only 19 goals in total. They conceded more than three goals in a match only once;
- During the 14 matches where they fell behind, "Tottenham Hotspur" has the best result in the Premier League. This is a record the team can boast about;
- Dele Alli contributed to 11 goals (6 goals, 5 assists) in the last 14 league matches;
- Harry Kane scored 14 goals in the last 16 Premier League matches.
Sam's predictions*: Most frequent result - 1:1, "Manchester City" victory 52%, draw 24%, "Tottenham Hotspur" victory 24%.
*SAM (Sports Analytics Machine) is a supercomputer created by Professor Ian McHale at the University of Salford and is used for football predictions.
