Next competition up, and it’s the Champions League for Man City and Spurs, who are the first of the four Premier League clubs to play out their European encounters.
Advantage Tottenham and Man City. The former receives a day extra rest before their mammoth meeting with Liverpool at the dreadful and unbreakable fortress, Anfield. Man City see this as a massive gain in the pursuit of their title-retaining season.
Yet, this is a time that any team would relish. Coming up against Spurs at this stage is seen as a blessing. Their form has been so bad it has seen them slip out of the top six in the Premier League standings. They’ve also gone and taken the accolade for losing the most games in 2019.
No EPL club has lost more fixtures than Spurs (17). Adding to this, they are winless in their last three outings across all competitions and have been eliminated from the Carabao Cup. These stats prove their problems stretch further than the Premier League.
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The North London side are still attempting to return to winning ways but can use this games as the slingshot back to winning ways. Unlike Spurs, Man City bounced back the weekend pass and are looking to continue on their flawless run in the Champions League group stages.
Man City vs. Atalanta
The fairytale of Atalanta’s Champions League debut could be brought to a rude awakening later this evening when they meet one of the deadliest teams in front of goal. Already sitting last, losing their first set of matches with nothing suggesting they have what it takes to stop Pep Guardiola from keeping 100% record after Matchday 3.
A win here takes them to 9 points. A good account while the others close to English side battle it out for points. A draw in the other fixture (Shakhtar Donetsk vs. Dinamo Zagreb) and a comprehensive win for Pep sees City set one foot firmly into the qualifying round. No doubt.
Score Prediction
Man City 5-0 Atalanta
Tottenham vs. Crvena Zvezda
What do you remember about Mauricio’s last European outing? I remember they are the only English side to have lost by five goals in a group stage fixture when they were defeated 7-2 at White Hart Lane by the hands of Bayern Munich.
This is why Spurs playing home doesn’t exactly say Pochettino will be cruising to three points. They face a team two points ahead of them and the team holding the second and final qualifying spot behind Munich, Group B’s leaders.
This match is as important as their Premier League Super Sunday engagement with Liverpool. This places them in a qualification seat after Matchday 3. It will also count as Spurs first victory in this run’s group stages.
So this could be where it all starts for the London club. They must try to get their campaign back on track with a victory later this evening.