Premier League 2020/21: Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester City – tactical preview

The final international break in 2020 finally finished. It’s also marked the return of club football, including the Premier League. This special weekend will host a couple of interesting matches to spice up the title race. One of them is Tottenham Hotspur versus Manchester City.

The last time both teams meet in the league was back in February. That time, José Mourinho’s side defeated Pep Guardiola’s team two goals to nothing. Steven Bergwijn and Son Heung-min came home smiling after putting their names on the scoresheet, while the Sky Blues’ Oleksandr Zinchenko had an early bath due to his expulsion. How will the match unfold? This tactical analysis will give you a preview on that.

Potential lineups

The home team will come to this match with their strongest armada. Indeed, Matt Doherty is not available due to the coronavirus he has, but he’s the only absentee of Mourinho’s men. Speaking about structure, we believe Mourinho will use his preferred 4–2–3–1 in this game. The predicted lineup is as follows:

Hugo Lloris; Serge Aurier, Toby Alderweireld, Eric Dier, Sergio Reguilón; Moussa Sissoko, Pierre-Emile Højbjerg; Lucas Moura, Tanguy Ndombélé, Son Heung-min; Harry Kane.

IOn the other side, Man. City have more injury problems than Tottenham. Their talisman Sergio Agüero, as well as their new recruit, Nathan Aké, are ruled out due to their hamstring issues. Former Liverpool player, Raheem Sterling, is in doubt after missing both England games this week. However, he can still start this Saturday if the problem is not as severe as predicted. We predict Guardiola will set his team in 4–2–3–1, with the starting lineup as follows:

Ederson; Kyle Walker, Rúben Dias, Aymeric Laporte, João Cancelo; Rodri, İlkay Gündoğan; Riyad Mahrez, Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling; Gabriel Jesus.

Citys positional play

This analysis will start by dissecting the Citizens’ potential attacking tactics. Many predict that they will enjoy a lot of possession as usual. However, it’s not only about possession. We must also take into account City’s tendency to attack through the flanks. The statistics show that 72% of their attacks come from wide areas. So, how will Guardiola set his team up?

First, we think that Guardiola will ask both of his full-backs to bomb forward. By doing so, the full-back pairing will be positioned in advanced areas and play closer to the attacking line. However, the vacant space left by the duo should be covered properly.

We predict that Guardiola will ask one of his midfielders to drop alongside the centre-backs. It means that City will have three men at the back, with the centre-back duo to move accordingly. From an attacking perspective, this helps City to access their wing players easier because they will have two centre-backs playing in the half-spaces. From a defensive point of view, this can add more protection as City will have more bodies to counter Tottenham’s forwards.

What can they do in the flanks?

Their most-tested approach is to overload in one flank and then switch the ball to the opposite side. The overload will most likely be played in the left side with De Bruyne moving freely from the central space to help. After that, City will try to send a diagonal ball to Mahrez in far-right. The Algerian then will be allowed to play his favourite one-versus-one duel against Tottenham’s defender.

Their second approach is by focusing the attack through one flank and then send one player in behind to make a cross. Usually, in this setup, City will directly play the ball from the outside centre-back to his side’s winger. The winger then will be followed by the opponents’ full-back, which opens space inside the defensive block. This space then can be attacked by various players.