Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur will be eager to continue their bright starts to the 2025/26 Premier League season when they face off at the Etihad on Saturday.

Gameweek 2 of the 2025/26 Premier League season continues on Saturday after West Ham United and Chelsea begin the latest round of fixtures at the London Stadium on Friday. The action on Saturday starts with the lunchtime kick-off — Manchester City vs Tottenham Hotspur —  at the Etihad.

Manchester City could not have asked for a better start to the 2025/26 season, as they cruised to a 4-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers at a sombre Molineux that commemorated Diogo Jota last weekend. That result took Pep Guardiola’s men to the top of the Premier League table, making them the early pace-setters in the English top flight.

On the other hand, Tottenham Hotspur hardly broke a sweat as they beat Burnley 3-0 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last weekend. That result put the North London club in the top four, although positions this early in a season barely matter apart from kick-starting a positive run of momentum.

The corresponding fixture last season saw Tottenham Hotspur clinch a shock 4-0 win over Manchester City, with James Maddison (brace), Pedro Porro, and Brennan Johnson finding the back of the net. The Hard Tackle looks closer at the encounter ahead of the latest meeting between the two sides.

Team News & Tactics

Manchester City

Pep Guardiola has received positive updates on the team news front ahead of his side’s latest fixture. The Manchester City manager will be bereft of the services of only five first-team players vs Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.

Ederson Moraes (illness), Rodri (match fitness), and Phil Foden (ankle) should be fit and available to take on Tottenham. However, Marcus Bettinelli (knock), Josko Gvardiol (match fitness), Kalvin Phillips (achilles), Mateo Kovacic (achilles), and Savinho (unspecified) remain on the sidelines.

James Trafford should retain his spot between the sticks, with Manchester City lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him vs Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday. The backline should feature Rico Lewis, John Stones, Ruben Dias, and Rayan Ait-Nouri.

As for the midfield unit, Bernardo Silva should pair up with Nico Gonzalez in the middle of the park, with Tijjani Reijnders reprising the no. 10 role. Finally, Erling Haaland will lead the line for Manchester City against Tottenham Hotspur, with Omar Marmoush and Oscar Bobb being the two wide attackers.

Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Trafford; Lewis, Stones, Dias, Ait-Nouri; Bernardo Silva, Nico Gonzalez; Bobb, Reijnders, Marmoush; Haaland

Tottenham Hotspur

Like his counterpart in the Manchester City dugout, Thomas Frank has greeted a positive update on the team news front ahead of the trip to the Etihad. The Tottenham Hotspur manager will be without six first-team players on Saturday.

Destiny Udogie is closing in on returning from a knee injury, although Djed Spence should retain his spot as the left wing-back. Manor Solomon is also back after being “back on the pitch” this week. However, Kota Takai (foot), Radu Dragusin (knee), Yves Bissouma (knock), James Maddison (ACL), Bryan Gil (knee), and Dejan Kulusevski (knee) remain on the sidelines.

Guglielmo Vicario will retain his spot between the sticks, with Tottenham Hotspur lining up in a 3-4-2-1 formation in front of him vs Manchester City after starting in the 4-3-3 setup last weekend. Kevin Danso, Cristian Romero, and Micky van de Ven will be the three centre-backs, with Pedro Porro and Djed Spence being the two wing-backs.

The wide duo will provide width in the final third and protect the three centre-backs. As for the midfield unit, Pape Matar Sarr should line up alongside Joao Palhinha in the middle of the park. Finally, Richarlison should spearhead the Tottenham attack against Manchester City, with Brennan Johnson and Mohammed Kudus supporting him creatively.

Probable Lineup (3-4-2-1): Vicario; Danso, Romero, van de Ven; Porro, Sarr, Palhinha, Spence; Johnson, Kudus; Richarlison

Key Stats

• Manchester City have won only four of their last 12 Premier League games vs Tottenham Hotspur (D2 L6), although they beat the North London club 1-0 in their most recent meeting in February. They last secured consecutive Premier League wins against the Lilywhites between December 2017 and April 2019 (4).
• The last four Premier League meetings between Manchester City and Tottenham at the Etihad have produced 21 goals (9 for Manchester City, 12 for Tottenham Hotspur), with the away side netting at least twice in all four. The most recent team to score 2+ goals in five consecutive top-flight away games against City was Sunderland between 1980 and 2000.
• Since the start of April, Manchester City have racked up more points than any other Premier League side (26), and they are the only ever-present team to remain unbeaten in that time (W8 D2). They also have the most clean sheets (7) while facing the fewest shots per game of any club in the division since April (7.6).
• Tottenham Hotspur will aim to win the first two Premier League games of a season for the first time since 2021/22. However, the Lilywhites are winless in their last 11 games against non-newly promoted sides (D2 L9) since a 1-0 win over Manchester United in February.
• Tijjani Reijnders scored and assisted in Manchester City’s 4-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on his Premier League debut. No player has ever achieved this in his first two appearances for City in the competition, while Reijnders and teammate Rayan Cherki could be the first players since Emmanuel Adebayor in August 2009 to score in their first two Premier League games for the club.

Player to Watch

Richarlison

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While Erling Haaland, Tijjani Reijnders, and Mohammed Kudus were viable candidates for this section, we have picked Richarlison as the Player to Watch for Saturday’s Premier League match between Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad.

Richarlison scored a brace in Tottenham’s 3-0 win over Burnley in Gameweek 1, already hitting 50 per cent of his total for the entirety of the 2024/25 Premier League season (4 in 15 games). The Brazilian international has the best minutes-per-goal ratio of any player who has featured across the last two Premier League seasons (once every 95 mins), also enjoying a 27.3 per cent rate.

The former Everton talisman will hope to capitalise on a solid start to the 2025/26 season with a game-changing performance against Manchester City. With Dominic Solanke breathing down his neck, Richarlison will be eager to continue his superb form.

Prediction

Manchester City 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur

Matches between Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur usually produce a lot of goals, and Saturday’s Premier League clash at the Etihad should be no different. With both teams looking in incredible touch, we should witness a closely contested affair this weekend.

However, with Manchester City having more strength and quality in depth than Tottenham, the home side should edge this contest by the narrowest of margins. So, while we expect Richarlison to make his mark again, The Hard Tackle predicts a 2-1 win for Pep Guardiola and his charges.