Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester City 10/04/19

10 April 2019

Tottenham Hotspur’s first European game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium sees them going head-to-head with the Premier League rivals Manchester City for the first leg of their Champions League quarter-finals tie.

Interestingly, none of eight of their previous H2Hs in London have ended without a winner, with the Citizens wrapping up five wins across those games (W5, L3), with five of them featuring four or more goals.

The hosts have started their adventure at the new stadium with a comfortable 2-0 win over Crystal Palace last time out. It was their first win after back-to-back losses to Liverpool and Southampton, with both ending with the same 2-1 scoreline against their favor. Maurizio Pochettino’s main worry in the build-up to this meeting is Spurs’ immense difficulties in the final third that has seen them score one goal or less in six of seven of their previous competitive outings. However, the North Londoners have picked up five wins in their last six home clashes (W5, D1) scoring 2+ match goals four times while preventing their opponents from scoring over 1.5 goals each time.

The visitors, meanwhile, go into this clash off the back of a narrow 1-0 win over Brighton in the FA Cup semi-finals, which was their 14th straight victory across all competitions. Desperate to get to the top of Europe, the reigning Premier League holders seek their first CL semi-finals appearance since 2015-16. The Citizens have been ruthless in the final third in this year’s CL edition, scoring 2+ match goals on all four of their previous CL road trips although failing to preserve a clean slate on three occasions during the run. Interestingly, five of seven of City’s previous away wins have seen them beating their rivals to nil while allowing precisely two goals in the remaining two – excluding their win over Chelsea after a penalty shoot-out (0-0 after 120 minutes).