Prediction and odds for the game: Tottenham (9/2) vs Manchester City (3/5)
We are backing the draw at odds of 16/5
When: Sunday, 15th August 2021, Kick-off 16:30
Where: The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
On Sunday afternoon, Tottenham and Manchester City clash at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, in arguably the biggest game of the opening weekend of the Premier League.
Tottenham
The north London club has appointed former Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo as their new head coach. The Portuguese boss may instil some new ideas into the players, although some have compared him to his predecessor at Spurs, Jose Mourinho.
Tottenham will be hoping to better their seventh-place finish in the top-flight from last season. However, it could well be difficult for the team Nuno’s team to break back into the league’s top-four again this season.
The signing of rugged centre-back Cristian Romero from Atalanta and Spanish starlet Bryan Gil from Sevilla certainly look like good ones for the north London outfit. The latter is highly rated and was involved in a swap deal that saw Erik Lamela join the Andalusian outfit.
Spurs pre-season results have been decent. They even beat arch-rivals Arsenal 1-0. They will need some positives after a slightly underwhelming campaign last season.
New signing Gil is unlikely to feature as he has only just returned from the Olympics. Fellow new signing Romero could also miss out with a knee problem. City-target Harry Kane is a fitness doubt.
Manchester City
Pep Guardiola’s team head into another Premier League campaign as favourites to win the English top-flight title. The Citizens cruised to the title last season, with city-rivals Manchester United lagging 12 points behind in second place.
City will expect another strong league campaign, especially after the £100m signing of England playmaker Jack Grealish from Aston Villa. However, the men from Manchester did fail in their attempts to land the home side’s star striker Harry Kane. With time still left in the transfer window, it remains to be seen if the north London outfit will land the England captain.
The visitors enjoyed a good pre-season, even without most of their Euro 2020 stars. However, Guardiola’s team suffered a 1-0 defeat against FA Cup holders Leicester City in the Community Shield last weekend. City fans will be hoping that the game is not an indication to how the Citizens season is going to progress.
The reigning champions finished last season in an inconsistent fashion, winning four and losing three of their last seven league games. However, they had already had the title sewn up by the time most of those games took place.
City are likely to be without midfielders Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne, as well as Aymeric Laporte who is in isolation. Kyle Walker, John Stones, Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and Ederson are all fitness doubts after participating in summer international tournaments. Grealish is likely to make his Premier League debut for the Citizens.
Conclusion
In normal circumstances, we would be predicting a City victory. However, with so many key players potentially missing for City, we are backing the draw. The other bet we are backing is under 2.5 goals, as it could be a relatively tight game, once again potentially without key forward players.
Our tip: We are backing the draw at odds of 16/5 and/or under 2.5 goals scored at odds of 10/11. (All odds are taken from Bet365)
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