Manchester City vs Tottenham Hotspur: Preview and Prediction

Published by William | Filed under Football (aka soccer), Predictions, Previews

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12/16 20:00 GMT Manchester City vs Tottenham Hotspur – Odds | Statistics


With the midpoint of the 2009-10 football season rapidly approaching, the race to finish in the top 4 is as unclear as it was when the season began. Between Tottenham, Manchester City, Aston Villa, Liverpool, and Arsenal, your guess is as good as mine. The good news is that after Wednesday, we will hopefully have a little better of an idea when City and the Spurs duke it out on the pitch. But probably not.


Manchester City:


Manchester City, much like every other team in the Premiership this season, has been extremely skittish. They began the season great, reeling off 5 straight wins before drawing an unprecedented 7 straight matches. The Citizens were finally able to claim a win a little over a week ago in their 3-0 Carling Cup victory over Arsenal and carried their momentum over in the following match with an impressive 2-1 upset of Chelsea at home. However, they again regressed this weekend in a disappointing 3-3 draw to the Bolton Wanderers. So, which team will show up tomorrow? Beats the hell out of me. If one thing is for sure, Carlos Tevez isn’t the problem. The former United bench warmer has scored in each of the club’s last 3 matches, including a brace against Bolton. As for injuries and suspensions, Mark Hughes will be without Wayne Bridge (knee), Michael Johnson (knee), and Craig Bellamy (suspension), while Nigel de Jong (illness) and Shaun Wright-Phillips (ankle) are questionable.


Tottenham Hotspur:


Much like Manchester City, Tottenham started the season off fantastically before taking a few steps back. Since their 9-1 dismantling of Wigan Athletic in late November, the Spurs have lost twice and drawn twice, including a 2-0 Carling Cup loss to Manchester United’s second stringers. Harry Redknapp’s club will be without Jonathan Woodgate (groin) and keeper Carlo Cudicini (wrists and pelvis) as they nurse injuries while midfielder Wilson Palacios is questionable after injuring a rib against in their recent match with Everton. Also questionable is midfielder Jermaine Jenas who is reprted to be suffering from food poisoning. They may, however, receive a boost from the return of a few players. Captain Ledley King is expected to feature as well as Luka Modric, who hasn’t seen the pitch since August.


Match Facts:


-Emmanuel Adebayor has scored 8 goals in 8 appearance against the Spurs


-Out of the two clubs 24 meetings, Tottenham has won 17 times while City has only 3


-City has lost their last 5 visits to White Hart Lane by a score of 2-1


Prediction:


While Liverpool appears to not be making a turnaround anytime soon, this season is as good a chance as ever for a new club to bust into the top 4, which this makes this match extremely important for the hopefuls. This match is wide open and with so much riding on the line, it makes it that much more difficult to call. Manchester City is, in my opinion, the superior club but which side of them will show up on Wednesday remains to be seen. With that being said, they certainly have their work cut out for them heading into a hostile environment at White Hart Lane. Although the bookmakers apparently do not agree and neither do the recent trends, I am going out on a limb with the Citizens in a huge victory on the road.


Pick:


Manchester City 2 – 1 Tottenham Hotspur


Bet of the Match:


Manchester City at 3.33 from Pinnacle