Tottenham fans will love what Paul Merson has said ahead of Man City match
Tottenham fans will like what Paul Merson has had to say ahead of the midweek Premier League clash with Manchester City.
Tottenham welcome the defending Premier League champions to North London on Wednesday, having finally snapped their recent run of poor form by beating Brentford, Manchester United and Ipswich Town.
Spurs are looking to make it four wins on the bounce for the first time in all competitions this season against an out-of-form City side, whom they’ve already beaten in both the league and EFL Cup this term.
A 4-0 win for Tottenham at the Etihad Stadium proved to be the starting pistol, ensuing a run of just one win in 11 games, but having recovered in recent weeks, they’re now looking to complete a league double.
Merson backs Tottenham to topple Manchester City
Man City‘s form across all competitions has, it’s safe to say, fallen off a cliff this season; they sit 20 points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool and have already been knocked out of the Champions League.
In his Premier League predictions for Sportskeeda (24 February), Paul Merson didn’t see that form improving at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, backing Spurs to beat the Citizens 2-1 on Wednesday.
Merson said: “I expect Tottenham to trouble City. If Erling Haaland isn’t fit and it becomes an end-to-end game, I have to back Spurs for the win.
“City have no firepower, they don’t look like scoring at all! If they fail to beat Spurs, they could be playing catch up to other teams by the time they face these sides and that’s never a good thing.
“Tottenham’s front three have goals in them and with Son Heung-min playing with a lot of confidence, Spurs will definitely trouble City.”
Tottenham ready to take the game to Manchester City
Ange Postecoglou‘s hell-for-leather style of play has come under heavy criticism this season – particularly during Spurs’ run of eight losses in 11 – but it worked to near-perfection at the Etihad.
Tottenham came flying out of the traps with a James Maddison brace inside the opening 20 minutes, as Pedro Porro netted a third early in the second half and Brennan Johnson icing the result at the death.
| Season statistics | Tottenham | Manchester City |
| Matches (in all competitions) | 41 | 41 |
| Wins | 20 | 19 |
| Draws | 5 | 8 |
| Losses | 16 | 14 |
| Goals scored | 83 | 87 |
| Goals conceded | 58 | 62 |
| Premier League points won | 33 | 44 |
City certainly aren’t their old selves this season and are clearly a team vulnerable to being beaten, but it remains to be seen if Spurs can continue their three-match winning run against the champions.
Pep Guardiola’s side suffered a 5-1 defeat on their last trip to North London against Arsenal a matter of weeks ago, and Spurs will be keen to do similar damage against their once-impregnable defence.
Cagey victories over Brentford and Manchester United gave way to a free-flowing 4-1 win at Ipswich last time out, and in terms of form, Postecoglou will see Wednesday’s match as there for the taking.