Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City [1:30pm - 28/08/11]

Billy

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Competition: Barclays Premier League
Date: 28th August 2011
Time: 1:30pm
Venue: White Hart Lane

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STATS
Form guide (including last season):
Spurs: DLWWL
City: WWWWW

Injuries:
Spurs: Palacios, Sandro, Gallas, King.
City: De Jong.

Sky Bet odds: Tottenham 7/4 Draw 9/4 Man City 6/4

Opta stat: There have only been two goals in the last three matches between City and Spurs - both scored by Peter Crouch, but one for each side.

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PREVIEW
Tottenham will look to put their turbulent start to the season behind them as they host Manchester City on Sunday.

Spurs' opening-day fixture with Everton had to be postponed due to the civil unrest in the area so Sunday's game will be their first Premier League match at home this term.

Tottenham's first game of the season was therefore a 5-0 win away to Hearts in the Europa League last week and when they did manage to get their league campaign started at Manchester United on Monday, Harry Redknapp felt it best to leave out unsettled midfielder Luka Modric.

Chelsea have seen two bids for the Croatian star turned down this summer, with Spurs insisting they will not sell, and with the transfer window almost shut, Redknapp has said he is ready to bring Modric back into action on Sunday.

His return will be a big lift for Spurs after they started their league campaign with an unlikely centre-midfield pairing of Niko Kranjcar and Jake Livermore for Monday's 3-0 defeat at Old Trafford.

By that time, City had already got their season off to a flyer, following up their 4-0 win over Swansea with a 3-2 victory at Bolton to become early leaders.

The big-spending Blues have since maintained the feelgood factor by bringing an end to another of the summer's long-running transfer sagas, securing the signing of Samir Nasri from Tottenham's local rivals Arsenal.

Spurs have been boosted by a signing of their own, with City allowing out-of-favour striker Emmanuel Adebayor to join them on a season-long loan, but he is ineligible for Sunday's game.

The two sides have been rivals for Champions League qualification over the last two campaigns, with Tottenham pipping City in 2009/10 before the roles were reversed last term.

After more big-money buys over the summer, City are setting their sights higher than just Champions League qualification, so Sunday's game will be a test of whether they are now ready to challenge for the title as White Hart Lane is a ground where they have struggled in recent years, taking just two points from their last eight league visits.

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TEAM NEWS
Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp will make several changes from Thursday night's Europa League game against Hearts having fielded several youngsters in the 0-0 draw.

Despite signing Adebayor in midweek, he will have to wait for his Spurs debut as he cannot face his parent club, but Redknapp has said Modric will feature.

Nasri could make his Man City bow but fellow midfielder Nigel de Jong remains out with a foot problem.

Nasri will be in competition for a starting role with James Milner, who impressed after coming in for De Jong at Bolton last week, with Yaya Toure dropping back into a holding role.

Gael Clichy could come back in for Aleksandar Kolarov at left-back to combat the pace of Aaron Lennon.

Nasri's arrival adds to the array of attacking options available to manager Roberto Mancini, but with both Edin Dzeko and record signing Sergio Aguero having scored two in two, Carlos Tevez is likely to be on the bench due to a lack of match sharpness.

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I'm predicting a score draw, probably in the form of 2-2. Both teams capable of putting goals away, but I do think we'll struggle to break them down for a win, despite playing at home.

Van der Vaart x2, Aguero, Yaya to score.
 
I think it will be a narrow home win but it will hopefully be a City masterclass. I do like City and hope they win the league and to do that its important to win against the teams around them. Modric to score the first goal in a 2-1 win.
 
I'm worried about Spurs' lack of a ball winner/defensive minded mid. Can't look past a 0-3/1-3 City win, Modric starting is a boost but I can see Yaya/Silva bullying Spurs midfield/defence.
 
Midfield is far too lightweight, would of personally played Livermore instead of Kranjcar but Redknapp's obviously going for ball retention.

Don't think we'll lose, we rarely lose at home.
 
Man City XI: Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany, Lescott, Clichy, Barry, Toure, Nasri, Aguero, Silva, Dzeko.
 
2 very attacking line-ups but Spurs lost only once at home last season.

But it will be a draw IMO, or a narrow win for Spurs or if Mancini gets it tactically spot on, a narrow City win.

You can see Mancini is going all out....with a nothing to lose attitude.
 
Story with Richards is interesting, City are trying to trim 1 stone off him but keep the muscle mass and are attempting to do it by December. Just expect him to be managed very carefully in the next few months. Got a big fitness plan for Richards to add to his game, will be very interesting what he looks like come January.
 
But it will be a draw IMO, or a narrow win for Spurs or if Mancini gets it tactically spot on, a narrow City win.

So you're predicting it will be a draw, or a win for either team.. talk about covering your bases!
 
So you're predicting it will be a draw, or a win for either team.. talk about covering your bases!

Lol. :D I think it will be a draw. But i can easily see it being a narrow win for either one aswell.
 
Stupid yellow by Yaya, costing my fantasy team some points. Bale just skied a sitter, wowza.
 
Nice give and go for Nasri and finish from Dzeko. Starting to look good at 8.5m for the fantasy league. <3
 
Hands up anyone who never doubted Dzeko? (Put yours down Shearer/Moron pundits)
 
Hands up anyone who never doubted Dzeko? (Put yours down Shearer/Moron pundits)

Hands right here. I do believe we were discussing the fact that Dzeko and Silva would be their two most important players this season...
 
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