MANCHESTER CITY underlined their status as Champions League favourites in midweek but attention now turns back towards their Premier League title defence as Tottenham Hotspur come calling.
Pep Guardiola's men were heavy favourites to beat Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday but few expected them to smash the Portuguese side 5-0 in their own back yard.
The goalfest helped bring up my Tuesday bet builder and City fired out a warning to the rest of Europe as they dismantled a Sporting side who impressed in the group stage.
It's back to domestic matters this weekend though as the champions look to move a step closer to another Premier League crown.
They head into the weekend nine points clear of Liverpool, albeit having played a game more, and it's hard to see a Spurs side in dismal form stopping the City juggernaut.
Antonio Conte revived Tottenham's fortunes when he replaced Nuno Espirito Santo but they've now hit a slump with three successive Premier League defeats.
That has dented their hopes of finishing in the top four and Conte admits the club's January transfer business has actually weakened his hand.
It looks like only FA Cup glory can save Tottenham's season now and it would be a major surprise if they avoided another defeat at the Etihad.
How the bookies view it
It's no surprise to see Manchester City as heavy favourites and their best price is just 3/10 at SpreadEx. Tottenham Hotspur are as big as 12/1 at SBK and even the draw pays 5/1 at Unibet.
Recent head to head
Tottenham have been a thorn in City's side of late and have won three of the last five meetings, including a 1-0 victory in London earlier this season.
Those wins all came at home, though, and Manchester City are unbeaten in the last six clashes at the Etihad. When Spurs last came calling, Guardiola's men eased to a 3-0 victory (below).
Players to watch
Raheem Sterling is enjoying a hot-streak for Manchester City, having followed up his hat-trick at Norwich with a stunning long-range strike in Lisbon. The England winger will be full of confidence and is a tempting 7/5 at Coral for anytime scorer.
Son Heung-Min has an incredible record against City, having netted against them seven times. The Korean scored the winner in the last meeting and is overpriced at 43/10 with SportingIndex for another goal here.
Anything else catch the eye?
Tottenham have been leaking goals, with even Morecambe managing to breach their defence in the FA Cup, so Manchester City could get plenty of joy. McBookie are offering 6/5 on over 2.5 City goals and that looks pretty good value.
Guardiola's side won 11 corners when they lost to Spurs in London and it could pay to back them to rack up more here. I can only see markets for total corners at the moment and SBK price over 11.5 corners at 11/10.
Backing Spurs players for cards could pay off as I'd expect them to be on the back foot for most of the game. Cristian Romero has amassed five yellows and a red from his last nine games and is a decent 7/5 with Unibet for a card at the Etihad.
This English Premier League match between Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur will be played on Feb 19, 2022 and kick off at 17:30. Check below for our tipsters best Manchester City vs Tottenham Hotspur prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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