Tottenham Hotspur head to Manchester City on Sunday for an intriguing Premier League encounter against the high-flying treble winners.
Spurs would probably not be favorites against a Citizens team that has only lost one of their previous 48 home games across all competitions, even with a full-strength roster.
But Tottenham has lost their last three games in a row due to an injury crisis that they are currently experiencing.
Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou has shaped his group into a dynamic attacking unit that performed admirably in the first few months of the season.
Nonetheless, there have been suggestions for the Tottenham manager to play more defensively against Man City given the team’s depletion.
‘Before you know it you are 3-0 down’
This is what talkSPORT pundit Jamie O’Hara, a Spurs supporter, disagreed with Ray Parlour’s suggestion.
According to Parlour, “Ange has been really good on the front foot, but I don’t think he can do that at City.”
Will he simply step back and say, “We’ll just have to try to take it all in and maybe get a chance with Son or whoever?”
“We know City with the players they have will just pick you off and before you know it you are 3-0 down, so I don’t think you can go out like you have been doing and attack, attack, attack.”
O’Hara believes Postecoglou will stick to his guns, admitting he’d rather Spurs lose 3-1 but put up a fight than just sitting back and trying to nick a point.
Jamie O’Hara adamant Tottenham will play attacking football against Manchester City
“He won’t change, my friend. I’ll tell you right now,” he uttered. We cannot simply sit there and try to hit teams during the break. His style isn’t like that. He’s been quite insistent about it.
Do I believe that to be correct? I’m not certain. It’s not Scotland here. He isn’t facing St. Mirren or other weak teams where you can easily defeat them with ten men and play reckless football.
“We are playing this way,” he has stated flatly, “but this is the Premier League, so you do have to be a bit more cute with how you set up your teams and be a bit more adaptable.”
“And you know what, even though we had opportunities to win against Chelsea and Aston Villa but ultimately lost, if you take those chances, we win those games.”
“It’s razor thin margins right now, but the Premier League and every team in it are razor thin as well.
“Since we’ve done it before, I’d rather we lose 3-1 to Man City and have opportunities than just sit back and try to steal a point.”
Manchester City v Tottenham
Numerous Tottenham players are sidelined due to injuries or suspensions.
While Sergio Romero will serve his final game of a three-game ban, James Maddison, Micky van de Ven, Rodrigo Bentancur, Pape Matar Sarr, and Richarlison are all recovering from injuries.
Tottenham performed admirably against Chelsea, where the game unfolded in real time. It will be interesting to see how the Spurs perform because they will have had time to prepare for this.
On paper, a decisive City victory seems likely. But you can’t help but think Postecoglou will have a secret weapon of some kind. It’ll be closer than people think, in my opinion. Spurs 2-1 City is my pick.
