Matchday Live Post: Tottenham 4 – 1 Manchester City

Matchday! And it’s crazy early, at least here in the States! It evens out!

Tottenham host league-leaders Manchester City in each team’s seventh matchday of the Premier League season. It’s the toughest test of Tottenham’s season so far, and perhaps the third or fourth toughest for City.

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It’s also a match, however, what City might feel they absolutely need to win. After a perfect start to the season that saw City score eleven unanswered goals in the league, they lost 2-1 at home to West Ham. Days prior to that surprise, City lost by the exact same scoreline to Italian champions Juventus in the opening match of the Champions League group stage. A win against lowly Sunderland midweek in the Capital One Cup will do little to change how much those loses stung. Saturday’s game thus becomes a way for City to regain the momentum that earned them plaudits at the opening of the season.

Tottenham themselves had a three-match win streak broken by Arsenal Wednesday and the thankfully-meaningless Capital One Cup opener. Getting back to winning ways would also be preferable, though it’s safe to assume that Mauricio Pochettino would just as quickly settle for a draw against a team he lost the double to last season.

All of which is to say that that Saturday’s game might be charged with a little something extra. Let’s see the lineups.

Tottenham:

  Manchester City

So the standout picks here come from City. Not only do Vincent Kompany and David Silva not start – both due to lingering injuries – but starting goalkeeper Joe Hart cedes his place between the sticks to Willy Caballero. Instead of starting Jesus Navas out wide on the right, Yaya Toure moves up into attack to make room for Fernando to slot into central midfield alongside Fernandinho.

The latter news hints that City might play a bit more conservatively than expected. They might look to dominate midfield in the hopes to reduce the influence of Christian Eriksen and Heung-Min Son. Tottenham could then have to emphasize the flanks, perhaps by forcing Son wide left while Lamela stays more disciplined on the right.

Time will tell, of course. Check back at halftime for snap analysis of the opening 45 minutes. COYS.

Next: Halftime