Key events
Tottenham fans, I’m sure, are currently replaying the last 10 minutes of the Super Cup with PSG in their minds. They were 2-0 there, of course.
Who needs Eze, eh? Frank appears to have got his tactics absolutely spot on. And what else would you expect from a coach who was behind Manchester City’s only home defeat of their treble-winning season in 2022-23
Half-time: Manchester City 0-2 Tottenham
Spurs head into the break firmly in charge. Johnson’s opener was a slick counterattack but Palhinha’s second was a gift. City have it all to do from here
45+6 min: What a chance for Haaland! City enjoy a spell of attacking pressure. Haaland jumps to meet a cross from about six yards out but his header is misdirected and flies over
Dear, oh dear. It goes from bad to worse for City. They’ve looked the more dangerous for much of this first half but Spurs have played it perfectly, choosing their moments and pouncing on any mistakes
GOAL! Manchester City 0-2 Tottenham (Palhinha 45+2)
It’s a disaster for City! The corner comes to nothing but Trafford’s goal-kick is pure self-sabotage. He plays it to González inside his own area, who is immediately pounced upon by Richarlison. Trafford comes out to make amends but the ball falls to Palhinha and the midfielder does the rest!
45 min: Seven minutes are added. Spurs win a corner. They smell blood
43 min: Guardiola leaves his technical area to remonstrate with his players, who are struggling to get a foothold in this since going behind
41 min: After receiving treatment, Porro comes back on. Those were some precarious moments for City. There are questions of handball against Trafford when he came out towards Kudus. Guardiola will be itching for half-time.
39 min: City are really wobbling here. Trafford comes out and clatters Kudus but also gets the ball with his chest. Reijnders then steps on Porro’s boot right on the edge of the area. Nothing given for either challenge but Porro remains down
Spurs took advantage of City’s high line, with Richarlison and Johnson charging in behind. The Brazilian’s low ball across was slightly behind Johnson and Trafford got a touch on the shot but not enough!
GOAL! Manchester City 0-1 Tottenham (Johnson 35)
The goal is given! Replays show Richarlison was onside when the initial ball was played through
35 min: Spurs have the ball in the net! Sarr flicks the ball on to Richarlison, who races into the City half, cuts it back to Johnson at the back post and the Welshman finishes past Trafford. The flag goes up for the ball to Richarlison but VAR are checking …
33 min: Johnson picks up the first yellow card of the afternoon. It looked a needless one
32 min: Spurs switch up their approach again and go long towards Johnson. Dias comes across to head the ball out of play. The visitors are keeping City guessing when in possession
30 min: Reijnders takes an almighty risk by letting a long ball bounce on the halfway line with two Spurs players closing him down as last man. The Dutchman manages to hold off a challenge from Kudus, to Guardiola’s relief I’m sure.
28 min: Big chance! Haaland rides a couple of challenges and slips it perfectly through to Marmoush inside the Spurs box. Vicario rushes out and spreads himself to block the shot. That was world class from Haaland
26 min: Marmoush is also finding space out wide. Cherki pings a pass out to him but his control is poor. Lewis then finds the touchline with a misplaced pass to Bobb. Not vintage stuff
24 min: Kudus tries to make the most of Aké’s rustiness and finds some space on the Spurs right wing. The cross-field ball is too long though and it runs out for a throw-in
Aït-Nouri goes off injured (22 min)
Left-back is forced to make way on his home debut with what looks like an ankle problem. Aké comes on for his first Premier League action since February
20 min: Aït-Nouri is still hobbling. Aké is being called back to the City bench by coach Kolo Touré. Looks like there will be a change
18 min: Bobb finds Marmoush on the left of the Spurs box. He cuts inside and hits a low drive to Vicario’s right, which the goalkeeper parries. Haaland can’t pick up the rebound. Marmoush is causing Spurs a lot of bother
16 min: Aït-Nouri goes down and the medical staff are twisting his ankle. He got a ball to the foot from close range after a tussle with Kudus. Aké is warming up but it looks like he’ll be all right to continue …
14 min: Spurs enjoy some possession in their own half. Then suddenly they turn and go long towards Sarr, but the midfielder gives it up. He was offside anyway
12 min: Marmoush looks dangerous again up against Porro, going by the right-back with ease before having an effort blocked by Vicario at close quarters
11 min: Lewis and Trafford are almost caught out on the edge of the City box but the ball eventually goes behind for a goal-kick. Bit of a nervy start at the back from both teams
10 min: Up the other end, Porro’s header back to Trafford is well short and Marmoush nips in, sliding the ball past the goalkeeper but wide of the far post. Bit of an escape for Spurs
8 min: Porro smacks it into the three-man City wall and fires the rebound into the near side-netting, prompting some misplaced cheers from the away end
7 min: Haaland drops very deep and is put under pressure by Richarlison on the edge of his own box, clipping the Brazilian to give Spurs a free-kick in a dangerous area. Porro will take again …
6 min: The groans continue as Richarlison is hauled down, giving Spurs a free-kick within crossing range of the City box. Porro takes, it’s headed back across the area by Bentancur but Haaland clears
4 min: Rico Lewis bumps into Djed Spence and is penalised inside the Spurs half, to the typical groans of a home crowd who have witnessed perceived injustice
2 min: City set up camp outside the Spurs box, with Cherki trying – and failing – to thread an early ball through to Haaland
Kick-off
Sarr gets us under way as Spurs kick for the corner. Nick the optimistic Spurs fan says: “I don’t dare switch the notifications on.”
I wonder if Kevin De Bruyne is watching today, perhaps from a hotel room in Emilia-Romagna as his Napoli team prepare to kick off their Serie A season at Sassuolo later on. The Belgian scored three and assisted three in his 14 league games against Spurs while at City.
Kick-off is five minutes away at the Etihad!
The managers have been speaking to the TV mics:
Frank says he has “laser focus” on picking his Spurs team today amid the transfer noise surrounding Eze’s move to Arsenal. He is asked about Palhinha, who he says is a “top player” and Richarlison, who he says is a “top striker” – consistent, at least.
Guardiola says it was a “difficult selection” to pick Trafford over Ederson today given that Ederson has given City “massive things” in the last decade. As for Rodri, it will be “step by step” in terms of his re-introduction into the team.
Rúben Dias starts for Manchester City today. He signed a two-year contract extension with the club this week to take his stay through to 2029:
I love Manchester – it is my home now – and I love the Manchester City fans. Their support from day one has been absolutely unbelievable, and I appreciate them a lot. When I think about the trophies we have won and the way we have played our football during my time, I couldn’t imagine playing anywhere else.
This fixture was a sort of nadir (as nadirs go) for Manchester City last season, thumped 4-0 by Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs – it was their fifth defeat in a row and knocked their already faltering title defence even further sideways.
Maddison scored twice for Spurs that afternoon, with further goals for Pedro Porro and Brennan Johnson. Even Timo Werner was enjoying himself. Spurs will have to do without their No 10 today and for the foreseeable future after his anterior cruciate ligament injury over the summer. The same goes for Dejan Kulusevski, who has been ruled out until the new year with a knee injury of his own.
Now, though, City appear to have recovered some of the swagger that has defined them under Guardiola. Their ruthless display against Wolves last weekend, when new signings Cherki and Reijnders opened their accounts for the club, was ominous for their rivals for the Premier League title.
Eze is the elephant in the room as far as Spurs are concerned today. Without the injured James Maddison, their squad is lacking in creativity and you’d imagine they’ll try their luck in the transfer market again before the window shuts.
With Eze on his way to the other side of north London, Frank is keen to recruit players who actually want to play for Spurs:
That’s very clear and I’m also pretty sure that the fans will feel the same. If they [the signings] don’t want to put the fantastic shirt over their head, play for the badge, play for the club, really enjoy it, no problem. We don’t want them. I think that’s a key message.
James Trafford keeps his place for City, then, despite the return of Ederson from injury. Rodri and Phil Foden are only fit enough for a place on the bench after missing the opening win at Wolves. Omar Marmoush and Rayan Cherki replace Bernardo Silva and Jérémy Doku in the lineup.
Thomas Frank sticks to the four-man defence that played against Burnley having deployed three centre-backs in the Super Cup against PSG. Rodrigo Bentancur and João Palhinha come into the midfield for Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray.
Team news
Guardiola and Frank have played their first cards:
Man City (4-2-3-1): Trafford; Lewis, Stones, Dias, Aït-Nouri; Reijnders, González; Bobb, Cherki, Marmoush; Haaland
Subs: Ederson, Aké, Doku, Rodri, Silva, Nunes, O’Reilly, Khusanov, Foden
Tottenham (4-3-3): Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Spence; Sarr, Palhinha, Bentancur; Kudus, Richarlison, Johnson
Subs: Kinsky, Danso, Tel, Gray, Bergvall, Vuskovic, Solanke, Odobert, Davies
Referee: Peter Bankes
Preamble
Hello and welcome to minute-by-minute coverage of Manchester City v Tottenham in the Premier League. Both teams come into this one off the back of impressive wins in their opening fixtures last weekend – Spurs against Burnley and City at Wolves.
Spurs, though, are somewhat licking their wounds after their move for Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze was hijacked by Arsenal, trumping the embarrassment they suffered in their failed pursuit of Morgan Gibbs-White of Nottingham Forest.
Pep Guardiola, meanwhile, is avoiding talk of “revenge” in the buildup to this one. He’ll surely have been studying the tapes of last season’s 4-0 reverse at the hands of today’s opponents. But Spurs, of course, are a very different proposition to last November. Thomas Frank is not Ange Postecoglou, etc.
Feel free to get in touch with your predictions, thoughts and opinions on today’s game – you can do so via this email.