We preview Saturday’s Premier League game at the Etihad Stadium with our Man City vs Tottenham prediction via the Opta supercomputer. Can the hosts end their Spurs hoodoo?
Man City vs Tottenham: The Key Stats
Manchester City are expected to make it two wins from two in the Premier League, winning 61.7% of the Opta supercomputer’s pre-match simulations versus Tottenham.
Since the start of April, Man City have picked up more points than any other top-flight side (26) and are unbeaten in that time (W8 D2).
Tottenham have won two of their last four league games at the Etihad (D1 L1), more than in their previous 11 visits combined.
Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur both made winning starts to the new Premier League season and will be looking to build on their positive starts.
Pep Guardiola’s side sat top of the standings after Matchday 1 due to an impressive 4-0 win at Wolves on Saturday, while Spurs also began well with a 3-0 home victory over Burnley.
City’s Premier League form in recent months has caught the eye; they have picked up more points than any other side (26) since the start of April, and are the only ever-present side to remain unbeaten in that time (W8 D2).
That is in part down to their impressive defensive work. City have the most clean sheets (seven) and have faced the fewest shots per game of any side in the division (7.6) since April.
But even after kicking off their campaign with their second-biggest opening-day win, Guardiola will be wary as Spurs have caused him problems in the recent past.
The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss has lost nine games against them in all competitions during his managerial career, only losing more against Liverpool (10), with two of those defeats coming last season. City lost 4-0 to Tottenham at the Etihad in the league, shortly after a 2-1 away defeat in the EFL Cup fourth round.
Man City vs Spurs 2024-25 xG
Spurs are also one of three teams Guardiola has faced 10 or more times and won fewer than half of his games against (11/23, 48%), along with Liverpool (6/24, 25%) and Real Madrid (13/27, 48%).
He will feel confident in the firepower his side boasts, though – Erling Haaland was on target against Wolves, netting a brace, and he is looking to become just the second player in Premier League history to score 50 home goals in fewer than 50 appearances (48 in 48 so far).
Thomas Frank has made a promising start to life at Spurs. They played well in the UEFA Super Cup against Paris Saint-Germain, even though they lost on penalties after throwing away a 2-0 lead late on, but they followed that up with a confident win over Burnley.
Spurs are looking to win their first two Premier League games in a season for the first time since 2021-22. However, they are winless in their last 11 outings against non-newly promoted sides (D2 L9), since a 1-0 win over Manchester United in February.
Frank led Brentford to a 2-1 victory at the Etihad back in November 2022. Only two managers have beaten Guardiola away in the league with two clubs, José Mourinho (Real Madrid, Man Utd) and Antonio Conte (Chelsea and Spurs).
There could very well be entertainment on display in this early Saturday kick-off. The last four Premier League meetings between City and Spurs in Manchester have produced 21 goals (9 for City, 12 for Spurs), with the away side netting at least twice in all four.
No away side has recorded 2+ goals in five consecutive matches against City since 1980-2000 (Sunderland), but with Richarlison in form after scoring twice on MD 1, Frank will be backing his side to cause an upset.
Man City vs Tottenham Head-to-Head
Man City have won just four of their last 12 Premier League games against Tottenham (D2 L6), though they did beat them 1-0 in their last meeting in February.
However, they have not won consecutive league games against Spurs since a run of four between December 2017 and April 2019.
Spurs have won two of their last four Premier League games at the Etihad (D1 L1), more than they did in their previous 11 visits combined (D2 L8).
Following their 4-0 victory last season, they’re looking for consecutive wins away at City for the first time since May 2010.
Man City vs Tottenham Prediction
Despite Spurs’ recent success against Man City at the Etihad, the Opta supercomputer is backing the hosts to earn three points, giving them a 61.7% chance of victory.
Spurs come out on top in 18.7% of the 10,000 pre-match simulations, while they earn a draw in 19.6%.
Man City v Spurs prediction
Man City vs Tottenham Predicted Lineups
Manchester City: James Trafford, Rico Lewis, John Stones, Rúben Dias, Rayan Aït-Nouri, Nico González, Tijjani Reijnders, Bernardo Silva, Oscar Bobb, Jérémy Doku, Erling Haaland.
Head coach: Pep Guardiola
Tottenham Hotspur: Guglielmo Vicario, Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Djed Spence, Archie Gray, Pape Sarr, Lucas Bergvall, Mohammed Kudus, Brennan Johnson, Richarlison.
Head coach: Thomas Frank
Opta Power Rankings
The Opta Power Rankings are a global team ranking system that assigns an ability score to over 10,000 domestic football teams on a scale between zero and 100, where zero is the worst-ranked team in the world and 100 is the best team in the world.
Ahead of kick-off this Saturday, here is the Opta Power Ranking for both sides.
Premier League Stats Opta
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