13/2Tottenham (4-3-3): Guglielmo Vicario; Pedro Porro; Cristian Romero; Radu Drăguşin; Micky van de Ven; Rodrigo Bentancur; Pierre-Emile Højbjerg; Pape Matar Sarr; Brennan Johnson; Heung-min Son; James Maddison;
Man City (4-2-3-1): Ederson; Kyle Walker; Manuel Akanji; Rúben Dias; Joško Gvardiol; Mateo Kovačić; Rodri; Bernardo Silva; Kevin De Bruyne; Phil Foden; Erling Haaland;
The champion of England will be decided on the last day of the championship. However, it is not yet clear who will enter from the first position in the 38th round, Arsenal or Manchester City. It seems crucial as the title contenders are unlikely to lose in their home games. However, there is a possibility that England’s fourth representative in next season’s Champions League will also be decided on Sunday. That will happen if Tottenham win all three points today against Manchester City.
Yesterday, we witnessed an extraordinary drama at Villa Park, where Liverpool squandered a two-goal lead, and Aston Villa won a precious point in a 3-3 draw at the end. This sets Tottenham up for a must-win today over the champion if they are to keep their chances of qualifying for the rich man’s tournament. However, the stakes for Manchester City are even higher – a fourth consecutive English Premier League title.
There are theories that Tottenham won’t give a damn today as they would otherwise hand the title to Arsenal. However, we are in times of professional football, and even if Aston Villa had settled the fourth-place dispute yesterday, Postepoglou’s boys would not have been less motivated. It’s another matter that Spurs are in terrible form, and in the previous round, they barely defeated Burnley at home, which at least put an end to four consecutive losses against four of the strongest teams in the league.
There are few words to describe Pep Guardiola’s professionalism and the quality in Manchester City’s squad. In 2024, the Citizens have lost just six points, with three draws, and at the most important time, are now on a run of seven consecutive wins. Most of them were achieved with ease, and Arsenal’s huge lead in goal difference has been reduced to just three goals in their favour.
If one could describe today’s match, it would be a final before the final. Both teams need the three points, and a draw would be disastrous for them. The big favourite is Manchester City, who are in excellent form, and it is virtually impossible to see how the Spurs can defeat them today. Back in the years, however, Man City have always been the big favourites but has not always come through to victory. Tottenham is the team that has been most successful against Manchester City in recent years. In the autumn, the duel at the Etihad ended in a 3-3 draw. On their ground, on the other hand, the Spurs have four consecutive victories over the opponent for the championship, where Manchester City last played in London in 2018.
In recent weeks, we have seen a relatively poor start to games for Tottenham and a wake-up call midway through the second half. This was the case against Arsenal and Liverpool, where the team was about to make up a huge deficit and remained not far from the draw. A week ago, against Burnley, Spurs again played a much stronger second 45 minutes. Tottenham scored 100% in their home games this season, and I expect them to do it again. However, I expect dominance from the champions and another success to reduce Arsenal’s realistic title chances to a minimum.