What Tottenham must do to beat Manchester City

Tottenham Hotspur face Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, November 23rd, on matchday 12 of the Premier League. The Lilywhites have lost twice in a row and another defeat could pile up the pressure on Ange Postecoglou’s role as the team’s manager and admittedly, they will head into the game as second favourites.

Manchester City’s form is no better as they have lost each of their last four games, of which one was against Tottenham in the Carabao Cup. Pep Guardiola is expected to have several key men back for the game, however, and Spurs could face the full wrath of a team that will be out to reignite its title charge this weekend before taking on Liverpool next.

City and Spurs absolutely cannot afford to drop any points hereon. For the former, it is with the title in mind and for Saturday’s visiting party, it could signal the end of their top four hopes. With that said, here is what Tottenham must do to beat Manchester City.

Defend as compactly as they can

Tottenham have not been the best organised defensive side in several matches after showing glimpses of just how solid they can be at the start of the campaign. To make matters worse, Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven are expected to miss out, so Ben Davies and Radu Dragusin are likely to partner with one another in the heart of the backline.

Spurs have to defend compactly and not let City have a sniff at goal from the central areas. Their opponents can have as much of the ball as they want in the wider areas as they can be thwarted with relative ease when they are not playing direct football. When they approach the game without the ball, Spurs must believe that a point is better than none against the defending champions.

Let Son exploit Walker

Son Heung-min has displayed decent form over the last few matches, especially in the international break for South Korea. The Tottenham captain will be a nailed-on starter for the game at the Etihad Stadium and will come up against Kyle Walker, a player who has not started the season in the best of fashion, thereby drawing widespread criticism from fans and pundits.

Son can have Walker’s number if he manages to isolate the English international down Spurs’ left flank and could prove influential if he manages to do so. The 32-year-old will need the help of his Spurs teammates though as they will need to provide balls in behind, whereas Destiny Udogie also would need to make overlapping runs to double team against the City full back.

More Tottenham Hotspur News:

• Tottenham in three-way transfer battle as Conte plans to sign Spurs target this summer
• Not Toney – Tottenham put off by €50m asking price for striker whose contract expires in less than 12 months
• Tottenham now in position to hijack Chelsea deal for Serie A ace

Hand Kulusevski a free-roaming role

It remains to be seen how Ange Postecoglou plans on dealing with Rodrigo Bentancur’s absence with the former Juventus midfielder set to serve a seven-match ban domestically. What goes without saying, however, is that Dejan Kulusevski will start in the engine room for Tottenham and have a big role to play against Manchester City.

He should be given a free-roaming role in midfield as feeding balls directly over the Cityzens’ high line will give them a chance at breaching Ederson. Kulusevski is by far the most hardworking Tottenham midfielder and with the ability to win the ball under his belt as well, it only makes sense that Postecoglou lets him do an all-round role against City.