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Manchester City vs Tottenham – Match Preview

They would have you believe that the second coming of Jesus has been spotted in Manchester earlier this week as Manchester City have finally completed their signing of Brazilian 19 year-old wonderkid Gabriel Jesus from Palmeiras for £27m.

With the move formally completed on Thursday, Jesus is ready to go into the City matchday squad for this all important encounter with Tottenham this evening. A game in which neither side can afford to give any ground up to league leaders Chelsea.

That statement is arguably more prevalent for City after their disastrous 4-0 defeat away at Everton last Sunday, a win that sees them now three points behind today’s opponents and 10 points behind Chelsea. A defeat which Pep Guardiola says has all but ended their title hopes for this season.

Not only that but that stunning defeat leaves City now 5th in the table so regardless of any flickering title hopes they may have they can ill afford to drop more points in their bid to earn one of the highly coveted Champions League places in May.

That defeat by Everton has had Pep Guardiola soul searching with his recent comments alluding to the fact that it’s perhaps he that is not good enough for the club and not the players. After such a promising start to the season in which Guardiola’s men earned 6 wins from their first 6 matches, the former Barcelona and Bayern boss has been bought back down to Earth with an almighty bump.

Now will be a real test of his managerial credentials as he has to sure if he really is worth all the hype. Compare that though to Tottenham and Mauricio Pochettino and they have continued to go under the radar by comparison, although with recent results that may no longer be the case.

Spurs announced they have a big part to play in this title race after being the club that finally ended Chelsea’s incredible unbeaten streak with a 2-0 win at White Hart Lane at the start of the month and after an F.A. Cup hiatus they picked up from where they left off last Saturday lunchtime.

They were in scintillating form as they bulldozed past West Brom on their way to a 4-o win in front of their own fans. A win that moved them up to second in the table and they would stay there by the end of the weekend thanks to Liverpool’s failure to win at Old Trafford.

It was a near perfect performance from Spurs with the 3-4-3 formation at times looking more like a 3-6-1 formation thanks to the non stop running from Danny Rose and Kyle Walker in the wing back positions. Such was the freedom they had they were playing as wingers for most of the game as Spurs ran riot against a hapless West Brom.

The only blot on that copybook would have been the injury to Jan Vertonghen, he is now set to miss the next six weeks through injury but Kevin Wimmer will be an able enough replacement and you would imagine the Austrian to slot in to that slot in the back three, or partner Alderweireld should they lineup in a traditional back four.

City have a defensive issue of their own but it’s not because of injury it’s because of a lack of form. John Stones had a torrid time on his return to Goodison Park last week while Claudio Bravo refusal to save any attempts on goal continues to bring much mirth to opposition fans.

It seems as if the weight of expectation that the price tag John Stones came with is getting the better of him, some may say that his performances since Everton have worsened and he is now becoming an easy target for opposition managers in their pre-match preparations.

And if John Stones goes up against Harry Kane then you would have to say there will only be one winner in that battle. Kane who recently celebrated fatherhood with a hat-trick against West Brom last Saturday scored from the spot here last season as Spurs won here 2-1 and really announced themselves in the title race.

For many it was a real coming of age performance and one that meant that they had really arrived in the bracket of top clubs in the league, a result that bar the end of season blip which saw them fall to 3rd in the table they have continued to build on.

They will come to The Etihad full of confidence but perhaps after City’s embarrassment last Sunday it’s probably the worst time in which to face off against them. City will have to bounce back there is no question of that and they will look to do so in the best possible way.

If City were to lose and Chelsea win tomorrow then the gap to the top would be 13 points and then you would truly have to say that it’s game over in terms of the title race. But that said defeat for Tottenham would also be a massive blow also.

There is a lot riding on this game as there is simply no margin of error due to Chelsea’s relentless form. Something has to give but who will be celebrating come 7:30pm. I usually make a prediction but it’s too tight to call, I guess a point would not be the worst point in the world for Spurs but for the reasons above it would be a frustrating one were it to happen.

City are too good to simply dismiss due to one massive blip last weekend but the way Tottenham are playing as of late means they should fear absolutely no-one and quite rightly so. It really is too tight to call but let’s not forget that Pochettino has already got the better of City once already this season.

The only thing I can really predict is that it should be a very good match up with two evenly matched sides. As for who the winner will be, then I’ll guess we will all find out at the final whistle.

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