Premier League: Match Preview; Tottenham vs Manchester City
The Premier League season is scheduled to kick off with Manchester City taking on Tottenham Hotspur's at the White Hart Lane.
The match is expected to be a cracker with both teams looking to prove a point. Tottenham will be looking to prove as to why they are now amongst the Premier Leagues elite having broken into the top four at the end of last season.
Manchester City, on the other hand, will be looking to prove that the millions of pounds that they have spent so far, were for a purpose and not just mindless spending of money.
Tottenham's manager Harry Redknapp will be without winger David Bentley who has suffered an ankle injury in the build up to the game. Jamie O'Hara will also be missing for the Hotspur's due to a back injury that the player suffered early on in the summers. Jonathan Woodgate still has not managed to recover from the groin injury he suffered last season, even after going through countless surgeries and will be missing for the team for at least another three months. Danny Rose who scored his debut goal against Tottenham's arch rivals Arsenal, is doubtful for the match due to the thigh strain he suffered during the pre match training. He will however have to go through a late medical test to prove his fitness.
Some good news for the Spur's boss however is that Ledley King, the veteran defender will be fit to start the match. This is after he passed a late medical to prove that he suffered no injuries on his knees during the training session that the team undertook on Friday. King will however be missing for Tuesday night's Champions League clash with the Young Boys, due to the fact that the pitch they use is made up of astro turf and it could damage the players knee's. Bentley however will most probably be back in training by Monday.
Manchester City's boss, Robterto Mancini, still has not decided if he wants to start with Shay Given or Joe Hart in goal. No matter who the manager opts for, it will result in the other player handing in a transfer request. Hart is England’s number one, so experts believe that the manager might choose to go with Hart over Given, due to the fact that Hart will prove to be a better long term prospect for the club. Mancini will be looking to get his star studded squad to a winning start, however he may do without using the talents of Spanish World Cup winner, David Silva or Germany's World Cup defensive super star Jerome Boateng. On the other hand the world’s highest paid footballer, Yaya Toure is scheduled to make his debut in the English Premier League and Aleksander Kolarov is also scheduled to start in his favourite left back position.
Some notable facts going into the game are:
Tottenham Hot Spurs have had over nineteen different goal scorers last season. That is the most number of goalscorer's recorded in a single season of the Premier League.
Tottenham have won eleven of the last twelve matches that they have played against Manchester City. The most recent victory saw Tottenham grab the last available Champions League spot in the Premier League.
Tottenham have won their last six matches against Manchester City; five of those matches ended with a score line of two goals to one.
No team has beaten Manchester City more times than Tottenham Hotspurs in the Premier League.
Patrick Vieira, who plays for Manchester City, has managed to score on four of his last five visits to the White Hart Lane.
Experts believe that the match will end with a victory for City, however whether or not the experts were right can only be determined once the match comes to an end.
Tags: