Sloppy Spurs to slip up once more against champions City

Premier League champions Manchester City (5/2 defend the title) go into this encounter with top four chances Tottenham (3/1) after resoundingly recording an 11-1 aggregate scoreline against them last season. The hosts are fantastic 12/1 chances to net five or more times again at the Etihad.

On top of that, the Sky Blues have won six of their last seven games with Spurs, which is why Coral have priced them heavily odds-on at 1/2 for another victory. A more tempting special price of 5/2 (max stake of £20) is on offer, though, for City to beat the north Londoners and both teams score, as has been the case in four of the previous six meetings.

For goals, nearly every attacker in Manuel Pellegrini’s front line has netted against Tottenham before, in particular Sergio Aguero (5/1 to bag a brace or better) and Edin Dzeko (6/1), who have five and six respectively in this fixture.

The likes of Stevan Jovetic, Yaya Toure, Jesus Navas and Frank Lampard (for Chelsea) have also scored against Spurs before. They are 5/4, 2/1, 7/2 and 5/4 in the anytime market.

Toure, though, may miss out after only returning to training the day before this Saturday October 18th 12:45 kick-off game. The Ivorian superstar has been on international duty and may be rested, meaning Lampard could start his first league fixture since the 2-2 draw with Arsenal and carry on his impressive form of getting four goals in six games in all competitions this term.

It is not all bad news for Spurs as they come into this match, however, as they can take confidence from the fact that City have failed to win their last two top-flight games at the Etihad. The visitors are, therefore, 5/1 chances to get their first victory here since the 2009/10 campaign, when they beat them 1-0. That scoreline again in the Londoners’ favour is a tempting 25/1 shout.

While Spurs started the season well, and now find themselves up in sixth place, equal on points with Manchester United in fourth, but have only won twice in their last eight games in all competitions. A draw at 10/3, then, could be Tottenham’s best chance of taking anything from this fixture.