Tottenham Hotspur will host Manchester City at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday, looking to get their season back on track.

Tottenham Hotspur have not won their last five Premier League matches, and they will be looking to bounce back strongly in the game vs Manchester City on Sunday. The home fans will expect a strong performance from the players, and it remains to be seen whether they can step up and deliver.

Spurs have done well against Manchester City of late, managing three wins in their last four meetings. They will fancy their chances at home against Pep Guardiola’s men. On the other hand, Manchester City have not been at their best either.

Pep Guardiola’s men have picked up just one win from their last five Premier League matches. City are competing with Arsenal for the Premier League title, and they cannot afford to keep dropping points. They must ensure that they come away with all three points here. The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at the encounter ahead of the latest meeting between the two sides.

Team News & Tactics

Tottenham Hotspur

James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski are unavailable due to their long-term knee injuries. Ben Davies has a leg injury. Mohammed Kudus, Pedro Porro, Richarlison, and Rodrigo Bentancur have thigh problems. Lucas Bergvall has an ankle injury. However, Micky van de Ven should be fit and available to take on Manchester City.

Tottenham Hotspur will shape up in a 4-2-3-1 formation vs Manchester City, with Guglielmo Vicario in goal. Djed Spence and Destiny Udogie will start as the full-backs. They will look to help out defensively and contribute in the final third as well. Meanwhile, Cristian Romero will start alongside Micky van de Ven in central defence.

As for the midfield unit, Joao Palhinha will add defensive cover and physicality alongside Conor Gallagher in the double pivot. They will look to keep things tight in the middle of the park. Xavi Simons will start in the attacking midfield role and look to link the midfield to the attack.

Wilson Odobert and Randal Kolo Muani will add pace, flair, and unpredictability from the flanks. Finally, Dominic Solanke will spearhead the line for Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester City on Sunday.

Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Vicario; Spence, Romero, van de Ven, Udogie; Palhinha, Gallagher; Odobert, Simons, Kolo Muani; Solanke

Manchester City

John Stones (thigh), Mateo Kovacic (ankle), Ruben Dias (thigh), Jeremy Doku (calf), and Josko Gvardiol (calf) are ruled out. Additionally, Savinho is struggling with a hamstring injury that will keep him in the treatment room for the next few weeks.

Manchester City will shape up in their usual 4-2-3-1 formation vs Tottenham Hotspur, with Gianluigi Donnarumma in goal. Matheus Nunes and Nico O’Reilly will start as the full-backs. They will keep things tight at the back and help out in the final third. Meanwhile, Marc Guehi and Nathan Ake will form the central defensive partnership.

As for the midfield unit, Rodri will start in the middle of the park, looking to control the tempo and provide defensive cover, with Tijjani Reijnders adding drive and creativity alongside him.

Rayan Cherki will add creativity from the attacking midfield role. Bernardo Silva and Antoine Semenyo will add flair and goals from the flanks, with Erling Haaland leading the line for Manchester City vs Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Donnarumma; Nunes, Guehi, Ake, O’Reilly; Reijnders, Rodri; Silva, Cherki, Semenyo; Haaland

Key Stats

• Tottenham Hotspur are winless in five Premier League matches (D3 L2), their fourth run of five or more winless games in the last two seasons. They only had four runs of five or more winless games across their previous 12 seasons combined from 2012/13 to 2023/24.
• Manchester City are without a win in four of their last six Premier League matches.
• Pep Guardiola has lost more league games against Tottenham Hotspur than any other opponent in his managerial career (8).
• Manchester City and Tottenham have won three each out of the last six meetings between them. 13 goals have been scored in the last six meetings between the two teams. Meanwhile, Spurs have completed the Premier League double over Manchester City nine times so far, more than they have any other opponent. Meanwhile, only Chelsea (10) have done so more against the Citizens.
• Antoine Semenyo has scored five goals in his last eight Premier League appearances, the joint most of any player in that timeframe (15 December onwards). One of those was a late winner against Tottenham for Bournemouth in January, with only Eric Cantona in 1992/93 (Leeds United and Manchester United) and Benito Carbone in 1999/00 (Sheffield Wednesday and Aston Villa) scoring against Spurs for two teams in a single season.

Player to Watch

Erling Haaland

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The Norwegian international is in fine form, and Manchester City will depend on him to score goals and make a defining impact in the final third. Tottenham have looked quite poor defensively in recent weeks, and Haaland could cause all sorts of problems for them.

He will look to continue his impressive run of form and find the back of the net. The North London club could find it difficult to contain the Manchester City star here. So, it is hardly surprising that Haaland is a captaincy candidate in FPL for Gameweek 24.

Prediction

Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Manchester City

Both teams will look to pick up a win here, and this will be a close contest. Matches between Tottenham and Manchester City are often close, and it will be difficult to pick a winner here. The two sides could end up cancelling each other out. They are likely to share the spoils in a 1-1 draw.