League leaders Manchester City will have their strength seriously tested on Monday as they travel to London to face fifth-placed Tottenham at Wembey Stadium. Last season the Citizens defeated the Spurs 3-1 in London with goals from Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and Ilkay Gundogan, while the reverse fixture ended 4-1 with Sterling bagging two goals after Gabriel Jesus had missed a penalty kick. However, Tottenham have a better record in the last six direct matches, they have won three of them while Manchester City have won just the last two from last season.
Tottenham have been doing well in the Premier League lately, they have won their last four matches, but their weaknesses were exposed when they faced superior opposition in the Champions League. At the start of October they were defeated 4-2 by Barcelona in London, while this week they only managed to grab a 2-2 draw at PSV Eindhoven. Returning to the Premier League, last weekend they secured
a 1-0 victory at West Ham thanks to a first-half goal from Eric Lamela. Jan Vertonghen and Vincent Janssen are injured for the home side, while Dele Alli and Danny Rose have a chance of recovering in time for Monday's game.
Manchester City are still working like a well-tuned mechanism, they have conceded just one goal in their last seven matches in all competitions and are sitting at the top of the Premier League table. Last weekend they had great fun with Burnley before securing
a 5-0 victory, and a few days later they won
3-0 at Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League. Bernardo Silva scored in both matches and will most likely keep his place in the starting eleven. Eliaquim Mangala, Claudio Bravo, Ilkay Gundogan and Danilo remain on the injured list, but Pep Guardiola has a super-strong squad to choose from.
Probable line-ups:
Tottenham: Lloris - Aurier, Alderweireld, Sanchez, Davies - Dier, Dembele - Lamela, Eriksen, Moura - Kane
Man City: Ederson - Walker, Kompany, Laporte, Mendy - De Bruyne, Fernandinho, D. Silva - B. Silva, Aguero, Sterling
My prediction: Manchester City to win 2-1, the Citizens are too strong for the Spurs at the moment.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Tottenham win - 4.75
Draw - 4.10
Man City win - 1.75