EPL 2021/22: How Spurs shocked City to provide a memorable opening weekend win – tactical analysis

On Sunday afternoon, Manchester City and Tottenham opened up their respective Premier League campaigns with a game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. With reigning champions City strengthening this summer, following falling 90 minutes short of a maiden Champions League title last season, all eyes were on Pep Guardiola’s side to see how they began their Premier League title defence. 

Spurs had an underwhelming offseason, with the decision to sack Jose Mourinho at the end of last season leaving them without a manager for a prolonged period of time. Antonio Conte and Paulo Fonseca fell through, leaving them with few other options than Nuno Espirito Santo, who had himself left  Wolves by mutual consent after a disappointing 2020/21 season. And yet, despite Manchester City’s signings, and Tottenham’s apparent disarray before the start of the season, it was Spurs who triumphed in this game, with a second half winner courtesy of Heung-Min Son. 

This tactical analysis will look at the tactics of both Guardiola and Espirito Santo, providing an analysis on how Tottenham were able to come away with three points.

Lineups and formations

Tottenham fielded a 4-3-3, with Tanganga starting at right-back, alongside a back line of Davinson Sanchez, Eric Dier and Sergio Reguilon. Their midfield was anchor by youth academy product Oliver Skipp, who was so outstanding on loan at Norwich last season and deserves his chance in the first-team. However, when the team sheet was announced on paper before the game, Guardiola could have been forgiven for thinking Pierre-Emile Hojberg would join him as a double pivot with Dele Alli in the 10, but this wasn’t the case. Instead Hojberg was deployed slightly further forward, alongside Dele Alli as two number 8’s. The line-up was rounded out with a very compact front three of Lucas Moura, Son, and Steven Bergwijn. Most noticeably, captain Harry Kane was missing from the squad, with Manchester City circling the Tottenham talisman as they look to complete their summer business with the purchase of the English number 9.

City played with an interesting set-up, where Jack Grealish was deployed further forward, alongside Ferran Torres as an unconventional front two. However, their summer signing from Aston Villa was given freedom to drop or shift out wide and combine with Raheem Sterling, which will be looked at in more detail later on. Sterling was played on the left of midfield, with Riyad Mahrez on the other flank, and Ilkay Gundogan and Fernandinho operating in between them. The defence saw a start for Benjamin Mendy and Nathan Ake, alongside regulars Ruben Dias and Joao Cancelo.

Nullifying the threat of Fernandinho

Tottenham were very reserved in their defensive positioning from the get-go, operating in a mid-to-low block whilst keeping a 4-3-3 shape. The two banks of three stayed incredibly compact and narrow with Tottenham looking to prevent City from being able to get any kind of rhythm in possession, stopping Fernandinho in particular from getting on the ball. 

The front three kept a low line of engagement, but still played in close enough proximity to the City back line that Ake and Dias in particular had to be aware of a loss of possession and an instant 3v2 central overload in favour of the Spurs front three. The attacking trio stayed rigid as a tight three, shifting slightly across the pitch as City circled possession, and looked to keep Fernandinho in their cover shadow as they did this.