Match Preview
Manchester City go host Tottenham Hotspur for Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon as both teams dey try build on di opening-weekend wins for 2025-26 Premier League. City brush Wolves 4-0 away, while new Spurs coach Thomas Frank start hin journey with 3-0 win against Burnley.
After di shock early exit for FIFA Club World Cup, City bounce back strong with new summer signing Tijjani Reijnders wey shine on hin debut with one goal plus assist. Erling Haaland score brace and Rayan Cherki add di fourth goal. Na second-biggest opening day win for City since 2019.
Even with di strong win, Pep Guardiola dey complain say di squad size no dey healthy. But City still dey top Premier League table after week one, and since April, dem get di most points (26), most clean sheets (7), plus di lowest shots against per game (7.6).
One area wey dey worry Guardiola na Tottenham — City don only win 4 of their last 12 league meetings with Spurs, and Pep himself don lose 9 times to them, only Liverpool don beat am more.
For Tottenham side, new coach Frank dey enjoy dream start. Richarlison score two goals including one bicycle kick, both assisted by new boy Mohammed Kudus, before Brennan Johnson finish Burnley with di third goal. E be Spurs joint-biggest opening day win for Premier League history.
Even though fans vex say Arsenal hijack Eberechi Eze move, Spurs still dey active for transfer market, with City’s Savinho one of their main targets.
Dem dey chase first time since 2021/22 wey dem fit win first two league games, and also wan build on last season surprise 4-0 win for Etihad. Tottenham don win two of their last four visits to City ground (D1 L1) — more than di previous 11 combined.
Team News
For City, Mateo Kovacic and Kalvin Phillips dey out with Achilles injury. Josko Gvardiol, Savinho and Marcus Bettinelli sef dey miss. But Rodri, Phil Foden and goalkeeper Ederson dey ready to return.
Ruben Dias don extend contract, and likely go pair with John Stones for centre-back. Left-back Ait-Nouri go continue. Reijnders dey push to make history by scoring and assisting again for back-to-back debuts.
For attack, Pep go decide between Oscar Bobb and Foden on right wing, while Haaland — wey don score 48 goals in 48 PL home games — dey chase two league scoring records.
For Spurs, wahala full. James Maddison, Radu Dragusin, Dejan Kulusevski, Bryan Gil, Manor Solomon and Kota Takai all dey sidelined. Destiny Udogie dey improve but this match come too early. Bissouma still dey out too.
Frank fit switch from back four to back five, bringing in Kevin Danso to join Romero and Van de Ven. Porro and Spence fit play wing-back. Bentancur dey push recall, but Kudus and Richarlison go still lead attack. Brennan Johnson fit drop to bench if Frank go five-man defence.
Manchester City Possible Lineup
Trafford; Nunes, Stones, Dias, Ait-Nouri; Bernardo, Gonzalez; Bobb, Reijnders, Marmoush; Haaland
Tottenham Possible Lineup
Vicario; Danso, Romero, Van de Ven; Porro, Bentancur, Palhinha, Spence; Sarr, Kudus; Richarlison
Prediction
We say: Manchester City 3-2 Tottenham Hotspur
Di last four league meetings for Etihad produce 21 goals, and Spurs always dey score at least two for each of those. So this game fit turn to another end-to-end spectacle. Spurs get tools to trouble City, but Guardiola men dey high confidence after Wolves thrashing. City fit edge am narrowly on home soil.