Tottenham have a slim advantage to defend on Wednesday evening when they visit Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium for the second leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-finals tie. The Spurs grabbed a 1-0 victory in the first leg last week, Son Heung-Min scored the winning goal in the 78th minute after Sergio Aguero missed a penalty kick for City in the first half. That was the first victory for Tottenham against the Citizens after three consecutive Premier League defeat, including a 1-0 loss at Wembley Stadium earlier this season. Overall, Manchester City have won three of the last six direct matches in all competitions, while Tottenham have grabbed two wins.
Manchester City were surely not expecting a defeat in the first leg, but now they will be extremely determined to turn things around and continue chasing the quadruple. At the weekend they managed to return to winning ways with a 3-1 victory at Crystal Palace in the Premier League, a result that keeps them two points behind leaders Liverpool but with a game in hand. Last week's defeat at Tottenham interrupted a string of fourteen consecutive wins in all competitions for the Citizens. Fabian Delph and Fernandinho missed last weekend's match due to injury concerns but both should be fine for Wednesday's match.
Tottenham have a good chance of reaching the semi-finals of a major continental competition for the first time since 1984, when they went on to win the UEFA Cup. Last week's victory over Manchester City was followed at the weekend by an easy 4-0 triumph over already relegated Huddersfield, a result which allowed the Spurs to move back up to third place in the Premier League table. Lucas Moura scored a hat-trick against Huddersfield in the absence of Harry Kane, so the Brazilian might be given a place in the starting eleven alongside Son Heung-Min. Kane is still out injured, along with Eric Dier, Serge Aurier and Erik Lamela. Dele Alli and Harry Winks are injury doubts for the visitors.
Probable line-ups:
Man City: Ederson - Walker, Stones, Laporte, Zinchenko - De Bruyne, Fernandinho, D. Silva - B. Silva, Jesus, Sterling
Tottenham: Lloris - Trippier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose - Sissoko, Winks, Eriksen - Alli - Son, Moura
My prediction: Manchester City to win 3-1, the Citizens are strong and they should be able to overturn the first-leg deficit.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Man City win - 1.30
Draw - 6.00
Tottenham win - 11.00
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