Tottenham Hotspur host Manchester City in the first-leg of their Champions Leaguequarter-finals on Tuesday at their new stadium, and the north London side will be looking to make a statement of intent.
The European competition is Spurs’ only chance of winning silverware this term, and they have to win against Pep Guardiola’s side tomorrow to keep that chance alive ahead of the second-leg.
English Premier League legend Alan Shearer believes Tottenham’s new stadium could make all the difference for the hosts, and that they will need at least a two-goal advantage heading into the return-leg to have a chance of progressing.
“The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will be rocking tomorrow night. And Spurs must make the most of it because this is their chance to seize the advantage over Manchester City. In my view, Mauricio Pochettino’s side need at least a two-goal lead heading to the Etihad if they want to reach the Champions League semi-finals,” the EPL record highest goalscorer told The Sun.
“But if anything should give them hope, it is their new home, which looks absolutely incredible. All season long we have heard moans about the delays to the completion of Spurs’ ground. But as things have turned out, the timing of their move back from Wembley could not have been better.
“There has been talk that the plush new ground will also make City raise their game. But in my mind, it will help the hosts far more than the visitors. And Spurs certainly stand a better chance of beating City here than if they were playing at Wembley.”
Spurs also face City in the league three days after the return-leg, and the three games between them will have a huge say on their respective campaigns.
Pochettino’s side suffered a 1-0 loss when both sides met at Wembley earlier in the campaign, and they now have a chance to prove they are capable of challenging the title contenders after stumbling in the race months ago.
They won their opening game at the new home last week with an emphatic 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace, and they will be brimming with confidence ahead of City’s visit.
Given Spurs’ recent record against Manchester City, the chances of Spurs going with wing-backs look bleak, especially with Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling occupying the lines for Manchester City. A 4-3-3 looks more likely for Spurs against City, with Son and Alli taking the wings and Eriksen playing the advanced role in the three-man midfield.
Tottenham Hotspur – Strengths
Spurs’ most dangerous quality is how they switch gears in transitional play. Eriksen with his quality on the ball can easily capitalise on the pace of Son and Alli during counter-attacks, and Kane being the striker he is, has the ability to finish the tightest of chances.
Beyond this, it is obvious that Spurs’ main strengths lie with Harry Kane. On his day, the Englishman can be the deadliest man on the field, a modern breed of the classic goalscoring number 9. Whilst he has not quite looked himself since rushing back from injury to Tottenham’s aid this season, Kane is far and away the most potent threat to City given that he could easily slot a chance home even on an off night.
However, this season has seen the emergence of Heung-min Son, or rather the South Korean has finally been able to receive some recognition when rescuing points for the North London side in Kane’s absence. Son’s fluid movement from wide positions is a massively underrated aspect to Tottenham’s game, darting through on goal with close control that is not entirely dissimilar from City’s own wide players.
With Christian Eriksen’s quality on dead balls and overall chance creation proving a lethal weapon to many sides this season, Manchester City should carefully study Spurs if they want to maintain their Champions League run.
Tottenham Hotspur – Weaknesses
Having conceded just 32 goals in Premier League, second after Liverpool (18) and Manchester City (21), Spurs are clearly not an easy side to break down. However, their recent lapses in defense are sure to make Sergio Agüero’s eyes water.
Recently, Spurs have conceded 2 against Southampton, 1 against Arsenal, 2 against Chelsea and 2 against Burnley and with Sergio in red-hot form right now, he would be gunning to hurt Spurs with his goalscoring ability.
Spurs’ midfield is also something which is not among the best in the world. Apart from Christian Eriksen, none of Eric Dier, Sissoko, Harry Winks or Victor Wanyama possess the ability to outplay the City midfield of David Silva, Fernandinho, Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gündogan or Bernardo Silva (whichever trio plays during the game). With City doing their heavy lifting in the middle of the park both in and out of possession, it would not be surprising to see Pochettino try and pack his midfield to try and avoid being overrun.
Finally, City may find a subtle but crucial weakness in Spurs’ mentality. This is not any sort of dig at the childish comments about the London side’s amount of ‘bottle’, but more in relation to City’s own history in European competition. In recent seasons, City have struggled when they fail to prioritise their own game plan over trying to contain the opposition, losing their way of playing and consequently losing in the process.
You need look no further than last year’s shock 3-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield at this very same stage of the competition. With Pep choosing to try and overrun the midfield by playing Ilkay Gündogan as an extra man, City lost their identity in both phases of play, looking disheveled when trying to bomb forward and not urgent enough in their pressing.
If City truly want to dominate this year’s quarter-final against Spurs and advance to the semi-finals, then the evidence is there that they need to do it on their own terms.
With Spurs struggling to overcome City in recent meetings, the signs are there that Guardiola should stick to his guns and allow Pochettino to play into his hands by abandoning their own principals, rather than the other way around.