Man City vs Tottenham Preview, Team News, Likely Line-Ups, Key Man + Prediction

Premier League action returns this weekend as Manchester City entertain Tottenham at the Etihad in Saturday’s lunchtime kick off.

City head into the game five points adrift of league leaders Chelsea so will be hoping for a win to put some pressure on Jose Mourinho’s side.

Manuel Pellegrini’s men have suffered from indifferent form this season and have surprisingly struggled on home soil, with the Citizens already dropping as many points at the Etihad as they did in the whole of last term.

Mauricio Pochettino has enjoyed a steady start to life at White Hart Lane and currently sit level on points with fourth-placed Manchester United following a narrow 1-0 win over Southampton before the international break.

However, Tottenham arrive looking to avoid another embarrassing defeat at the hands of the champions having lost 6-0 and 5-1 to City last season.

Team news

City will hand a late fitness test to influential midfielder Yaya Toure after he arrived back late from international duty with Ivory Coast in midweek. If Pellegrini decides to rest him, then Frank Lampard if expected to step in.

Fernandinho misses out with a hamstring injury so Fernando Reges will start in midfield while Samir Nasri is out for a month with a groin injury.

Tottenham are sweating on the fitness of goalkeeper Hugo Lloris as he’s struggling with a thigh injury. However, he’s expected to be passed fit to start.

Nacer Chadli also faces a late test on a hip injury while Emmanuel Adebayor will be assessed after arriving back late from international duty with Togo, but again both are likely to start.

Kyle Walker and Kyle Naughton are both out, so Eric Dier should start at right-back.

Likely Line-Ups

Key Man

Sergio Aguero: The Argentinean is City’s main threat in attack and he’s deadly when given a sniff of goal. He’ll certainly be one that Spurs will want to keep quiet tomorrow.

Predicted Score

Man City 2-0 Tottenham: I can’t see past a home win here, with City to inflict another defeat on Spurs to keep the pressure on Chelsea.

What team would you like to see start and what’s your predicted score?