Tottenham vs Manchester City in April: Match Insights and Forecasts

Tottenham vs Manchester City on April 20th, 2024 could be a defining game in terms of the title race. It’s a blockbuster fixture to look forward to and it is part of a difficult end-of-season push that Spurs have.

With two-thirds of the season behind them, Tottenham find themselves in a position to make a challenge for a top-four finish. That’s top priority and it would be a huge achievement in Ange Postecolgou’s first season in charge.

There is a chance that a fifth-place finish will return a place in next season’s Champions League, but Tottenham can’t rely on that variable. Looking ahead to their run-in, the Lilywhites will need to dig deep in the final third of the season, as they target their goals. The first of their big trio of matches in the run-in comes with that visit of Man City.

This Season

When Tottenham paid a visit to the Etihad Stadium earlier this season, there was a cracker of a match. That was in early December, with Spurs entering the game on the back of a three-match losing streak.

But a goal from Heung-min Son in the 6th minute set up a brilliant, fierce contest, in which City had fought back to lead 2-1 at halftime. But Spurs wouldn’t be shaken off and despite trailing 3-2 with ten minutes to go, a 90th-minute equaliser from Dejan Kulusevski rescued a point for them.

The two clubs met again at the end of January in the FA Cup, with Manchester City taking a 1-0 win in North London, thanks to a goal two minutes from time.

Tottenham Advantage?

What makes this forthcoming fixture fascinating is Tottenham’s positive head-to-head form against City in the league. In their last five, home and away against Manchester City, Spurs are W3 D1 L1. Closer to the match, this head-to-head form will surely influence Tottenham – MC tips and predictions on various football platforms like this one: https://www.ukclubsport.com/football/predictions/.

Against the champions, that’s an impressive return of results. But what about on home soil specifically, where this next encounter will happen? More good news for Tottenham. Spurs are on a four-match home league winning streak against Man City.

Remarkably, each of those wins in the sequence happened with a clean sheet, the latest results being 1-0 successes on the last two occasions. In contrast, each of the last three meetings at the Etihad has featured at least five goals.

Especially with the importance of the match at the late stage of the season, will it push things towards another low-scoring clash in North London? That will likely suit the Spurs more.

Home Form Test

The consistency they had over the first third of the season has not been matched since. Injuries in November and December halted their strong momentum and naturally as the season has worn on, opposing teams have found a way to combat Ange Postecoglou’s tactics, which were a new thing in the top flight this term.

Does the home form of Tottenham paint a picture of them standing up to the task at home? At the end of February, the Spurs held a W9 D0 L4 home record for the season. Three of those four losses were against teams sitting inside the top ten with two-thirds of the season done.

Each of those losses were 2-1 reverses for Spurs, but there are positives to point to as well. Spurs have hit the back of the net in every home league game played this season, recording an average of exactly two goals per game.

Defensive Woes

The big question for Tottenham in going up against a title-challenging Manchester City is whether their defence can stand firm. With no clean sheet in a string of eight matches between December 23rd and February 17th, there are obvious problems at the back.

In five of those eight matches, Spurs conceded at least two goals, including against the likes of West Ham and Wolves, who are clearly not as dangerous threats as Manchester City. It is that area of their game that has prevented them from really pushing on.

Tottenham took just two clean sheets in their first thirteen home fixtures of the Premier League season.

Positives

Tottenham have a very tough run-in. Following the Man City game, they will meet Arsenal and then Liverpool consecutively. But Spurs don’t have the extra burden of European matches like each of those three title challengers have, so should be much fresher at that stage.

Spurs being eliminated early from the FA Cup also frees up their schedule a bit more. They have also taken entertaining draws away at Man City and Arsenal this season and claimed a home victory over Liverpool – so they have proven form.

Given their great record against the Citizens, Spurs are capable of upsetting the odds on the day. Regardless of which way the fixture swings, Tottenham are going to have a huge hand in the title race.