Manchester City v Tottenham predictions: Back champions for another fast start

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Manchester City v Tottenham in the Premier League on Saturday.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Premier League & Main Event, 5.30pm Saturday

Best bet

Manchester City-Manchester City double result
2pts 10-11 Coral, Ladbrokes

Team news

Manchester City
Kyle Walker should start against his former club having been suspended for the Champions League trip to Sporting. Jack Grealish and Gabriel Jesus are set to miss out again.

Tottenham
Japhet Tanganga and Oliver Skipp are sidelined along with one unidentified player who has Covid-19 but Eric Dier should be fit to start.

Match preview

Tottenham's 1-0 home win over Manchester City on the opening weekend of the Premier League season feels a very, very long time ago and Spurs are 10-1 underdogs for their rematch with the heavyweights of European football.

City strengthened their position at the head of the Champions League market on Tuesday by swatting aside last-16 opponents Sporting 5-0 thanks to a scintillating display in Lisbon.

Pep Guardiola's men as good as settled the two-legged tie in ruthless fashion, scoring four first-half goals, and Antonio Conte's out-of-sorts Tottenham side can expect to be on the end of another early barrage against the Premier League champions.

Spurs were unable to find a way back after going 2-0 down inside 18 minutes against last weekend's visitors Wolves and that defeat followed league losses at Chelsea and at home to Southampton.

They have not suffered four straight defeats in the top flight since 2004, when Amir Khan, set to star in Saturday's other big sporting contest in Manchester, won an Olympic silver medal at the age of just 17.

Spurs are long odds-on to match that losing run at the Etihad Stadium, which is not the kind of achievement they had in mind when appointing Conte in November after Nuno Espirito Santo's brief, unhappy spell in charge of the Lilywhites.

Attracting the Italian, a league title winner with Juventus, Chelsea and Inter, was a major coup for Spurs but their form since the turn of the year, coupled with an underwhelming January transfer window, has provided a reality check for both Conte and Tottenham.

The trip to City is only Spurs's 20th game under their new boss and Conte's record of success elsewhere means he clearly deserves patience as well as backing in the summer transfer window.

For the moment, though, Tottenham's target is to avoid losing more ground in the race for fourth place while the Citizens have more lofty ambitions.

Since their opening defeat in north London, the champions have taken 63 points from the 72 available to them in the league, winning seven and drawing one of their eight games against teams in the top seven.

They have done the double over European champions Chelsea, who beat Spurs in both legs of last month's EFL Cup semi-final before a league win over their London rivals at Stamford Bridge, and fast starts have been a feature of City's success this term.

They have been leading at half-time in 16 of their 20 league victories and the City-City double result looks a solid bet again.

Despite the continued absences of Jack Grealish and Gabriel Jesus Guardiola has an outstanding attacking unit and, like their August defeat at Tottenham, the Citizens' desperation to sign Spurs striker Harry Kane last summer is a distant memory.

Key stat

Manchester City have been leading at half-time in seven of their last eight Premier League victories.

Inside info

Manchester City

Penalty taker Riyad Mahrez
Free-kick wizard Kevin De Bruyne
Set-piece aerial threat Ruben Dias
Card magnet Rodri

Tottenham

Penalty taker Harry Kane
Free-kick wizardHeung-Min Son
Set-piece aerial threatCristian Romero
Card magnetPierre-Emile Hojbjerg

Not got a bet365 account? Bet £10 & get £50 in free bets

Open account offer. Minimum deposit requirement. Free Bets are paid as bet credits and are available for use upon settlement of bets to value of qualifying deposit. Minimum odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude bet credits stake. Time limits/T&Cs apply. 18+ begambleaware.org

CLAIM OFFER HERE

MORE FREE BETS

Today's top sports betting stories

Follow us on Twitter @racingpostsport