Regarded as one of the best managers in world football after his exploits with Barcelona and Bayern Munich, Pep Guardiola had never had it this bad in his coaching career since joining Manchester City. Last weekend, he was handed his worst defeat by Everton. Against in-form Tottenham Hotspurs today, the Spaniard may be in for another rough patch
While Manchester City have been boosted by the arrival of 19-year-old Brazilian Gabriel Jesus, Tottenham Hotspur will need to cope without the services of Jan Vertonghen when the Citizens host Spur at the Etihad Stadium today
The Belgian is sidelined with an ankle ligament injury. Scan results revealed that the influential defender will be ruled out for up to two months.
The 29-year-old has been Spurs’ backbone in defence since arriving at the club from Ajax in 2012. It’s no easy feat to adapt the intensity of the Premier League but the towering defender habitually seized a spot at the core of defence and never looked back. He was rock-solid when Spurs put on a surprise and strong competition for the title last campaign.
Putting aside the disappointment of losing the race to Leicester City last season, Vertonghen has pulled up his sleeves and performed pretty well this term too. He has racked up 20 league appearances out of 21 and helped his side conced only 14 goals so far, the lowest in the division.
Mauricio Pochettino will be upset as his side will be facing Manchester City next and Liverpool in coming weeks, two teams who are gifted with a plethora of attacking power to unravel opponents.
However, second-placed Tottenham will provide a major test to City, having won seven matches in a row and having beaten Guardiola’s men at White Hart Lane earlier in the season.
Jesus will certainly provide another option for the Citizens though, having had Brazilian legend Pele dub him as being better than Barcelona star Neymar after he fired Palmeiras to the league title, scoring 12 goals and laying on five others in 27 appearances.
Jesus has also proved to be a star in the national side, after having helped the U23s to Olympic glory. He reportedly had the choice of joining Barcelona or Real Madrid and Guardiola could be thanking his lucky stars that the youngster chose City while Spurs boss could be ruing the timing of his arrival ahead of their Premier League clash.
Besides a well-oiled first team, another thing the Argentine has achieved is healthy squad depth. There is no need of sourcing for a stopgap in the winter window, as either Ben Davies or Kevin Wimmer will be picking up the centre-back’s duty. The former came on for the Belgian against the Baggies and looked comfortable till the final whistle.
However, Guardiola’s men will be looking to bounce back after the humiliating 4-0 defeat at Goodison Park. The result was never seen coming as the Manchester club hammered West Ham 5-0 in the FA Cup a few days before.
Sitting right outside the top four, nothing less than three points against Spurs this weekend will further derail their chances of combating Chelsea.
On the other hand, Tottenham are equipped with prodigious firepower, spearheaded by Kane and Dele Alli, who will look to keep City’s defence busy and troubled. At the moment, no team look more capable of stopping the Blues than the Lilywhites. Apart from being on the coattails of the table-toppers, their stock even raised when they ended Chelsea’s 13-match winning streak with a 2-0 triumph.
No doubt, Vertonghen will be missed but Spurs no longer look like a team heavily reliant on a single star.
Meanwhile, former tottenham midfielder, Peter Taylor is of the opinion that the White Hart Lane side have an excellent chance to lift the title this season, because they have such a strong squad.
Spurs are in a rich vein of form, winning their past six league games on the trot, scoring 19 goals in the process.
Although the north London outfit trail table toppers Chelsea by seven points in second spot, Taylor, who made 123 appearances for Spurs, reckons Pochettino’s men have learned the lessons of last season and are equipped this time round to sustain a challenge.
“I think Harry Kane is very important again. He’s such a good player – physically fit too. He runs all day and that’s what he does so well. Tottenham have a great chance of winning the title – they seem to be improving.,” Taylor told Express Sport.
“They seem to have learned from last season. Mauricio Pochettino has a brilliant squad – you can change the full-backs and it doesn’t make too much difference to the team. That’s an important position. The midfield has also been improved – Eric Dier was fantastic last year, but Pochettino has brought someone in who keeps him out of the team and now he is playing in another position. “Pochettino has been incredibly clever and good. He’s got a great squad and if they keep on with the same confidence, they could do very well and have a strong chance.”
And Taylor thinks Spurs might just edge out Pep Guardiola’s men.
He added: “I think it will be a close game. They are two very good teams and so it should be a very good football match. It’s whoever plays well on the day. At the minute you would fancy Tottenham as they are probably a bit more confident.”
