Premier League: Etihad Clash Offers ‘Bouncebackability’ Route

Manchester City vs Tottenham Hotspur

In my view, there are usually two ways a team can react following a defeat on derby day.

The first is by using such a setback to make you stronger and bounce back to turn in a much-improved performance.

The alternative is to feel a little sorry for yourself and run the risk of your already low confidence being hit hard again – where it hurts.

That is the scenario realistically facing reigning champions Manchester City and Spurs as they prepare to meet in the Premier League at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday evening.

Yet while both sides suffered disappointing setbacks against their arch-rivals last weekend, there is a real difference between the two teams.

Premier League

Leeds United

Brentford FC

CLICK HERE

TO SEE UPDATED ODDS

Talking Points

For example, City – while being far from their best – were unfortunate to lose their lead in the Manchester derby due to a highly controversial, and in this SBOTOP observer’s view, completely wrong decision.

Still reeling, they then conceded again and tasted defeat at Old Trafford.

Fast forward little more than 24 hours and that taste was also felt by Spurs at home to Arsenal.

They did not have the same misfortunate to rally against, however.

Indeed, once the booing and brawling had subsided, the period of reflection could not have been a pleasant one for Antonio Conte and his men.

Their first-half showing was woeful and, while they improved after the restart, they rarely looked like overturning a 2-0 deficit.

Spurs had needed a statement win, having beaten only two teams this season from the top half of the table – Fulham and Brighton – and now the onus is on them to get one, or certainly a positive result, against the country’s leading team.

Of course, the fact Spurs were beaten by a resurgent Arsenal, extending the Gunners’ lead over City at the summit to eight points, means the reigning champions really need to win this one.

And given that City rarely lose two on the bounce, that surely spells bad news for Conte’s charges in a contest which has so often delivered Premier League 2023 highlights.

In fact, despite retaining the title last season, Spurs secured a league double over them last term, en route to securing a spot at Europe’s top table.

Most eyes will be on the two club’s respective frontmen, two of the best in world football today.

Erling Braut Haaland is a phenomenal talent and, in every direction you look, his statistics are breathtaking.

Likewise, another player who has a special relationship with his own boyhood club, and is just one goal shy of equalling the late, great Jimmy Greaves’ club record, is Spurs and England captain Harry Kane.

Premier League: Tottenham Hotspur will be looking for a win after a disappointing loss in the North London Derby — Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane reacts during the recent North London Derby

He has a fine record against City – in fact, he has a fine record against most teams – and it’s well-known he wanted to move to the champions just over a year ago.

That Spurs refused to sell him is now a thing of the past.

Who receives the best service on Thursday night could be the key difference in this one.

History

Historically, this rivalry could barely be closer.

Both teams have won 65 each of their meetings, (a further 36 matches have been drawn), which shows you how well-matched they have been over the years as they have each enjoyed their own periods of glory.

Two seasons ago it was Vintage Mourinho in North London as Spurs ran out 2-0 winners in a game City dominated for long spells, yet it didn’t matter because of a Jose Mourinho managerial masterclass.

However, City then got the better of Spurs in the return at the Etihad with a 3-0 triumph before a late Aymeric Laporte goal won them the League Cup Final – made easier by the fact Mourinho had been foolishly dismissed by Spurs just days earlier.

Last season Spurs got a modicum of revenge with a league double of their own.

In London, a Son Heung-Min goal separated the sides on the opening day of the 2021/22 campaign.

Then a 95^th-minute Kane winner settled a five-goal thriller in Spurs’ favour in Manchester in February.

City have won 13 of the last 23 meetings with Spurs in the Premier League.

Arguably the best game I have reported on in recent years involved these clubs in 2019 in the Champions League quarter-finals – an epic encounter with which words struggled to do justice, so barely credible were the events which unfolded.