City are set to host Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad this weekend in what is being built up as a title deciding game. Tottenham’s season has been going better than expected with the outbreak of young English talent in their squad. Dele Alli, Eric Dier, and Harry Kane are all young English talents that have exploded this year under Mauricio Pochettino’s high block pressing system, propelling the young squad to their current second place position. However, there are some question marks held over the current age of the key players in the squad and how it will affect their title challenge in this latter stage of the season. So how can Manchester City exploit Tottenham’s weaknesses and where will the key battles lie in this much needed three-point contest at the top of the table?
The midfield battle will obviously be essential, especially since City have been hit with a wave of injuries during this important time in the season. Sagna, Mangala, Nasri, Navas, De Bruyne, Delph and Bony are all out of contention for the match against spurs, so the onus falls on Yaya Touré to have a really good game. Pellegrini will most likely put out a 4-2-3-1 with Fernandinho and Fernando as the two holding midfielders, putting Yaya in the number 10 spot with David Silva on the right. The key for Yaya is to not get caught in possession. Dembele, Dier, and Alli are all talented and aggressive ball winners, losing the ball in key positions will be our undoing. Instead of trying to expose and break down one of the best defences in the league via our own possession, City themselves must learn to press hard and defend well in order to break. Pochettino himself has stated that he likes something more advanced than Jurgen Klopp’s medium block.
The disadvantage within the pressing systems is that if the player who is pressuring the ball carrier is beaten, a long ball or even a few quick passes can seriously put the pressing team in danger of being scored against. City are more than capable with the likes of Silva, Touré, Fernandinho, Sterling, and Aguero all fit, to put together passing plays that can expose the high press. It’s simply a matter of keeping a cool head and working as a team.
As stated before, Fernandinho and Fernando will be most likely be playing as the two defensive midfielders in the system, Fernando filling in for the injured Fabian Delph. They’ll have their hands full with Dembele and Eriksen, but if Fernando actually shows up, and Fernandinho is his usual excellent self, then it should be okay. Eriksen likes to slip into the pocket between the midfield and defensive blocks, whilst Dembele thrives off using his strength in link-up play.
In terms of defending, City are somewhat fortunate in that Kane often leads the line alone. Otamendi is more than capable of marking Kane by himself, so long as a midfielder drops inside once Kane drags a defender deep in order to receive the ball. Clichy should be played over Kolarov because he’s more defensively stable and won’t leave gaps at the back when going forward. Stopping the overlapping wing play will be another essential part of asphyxiating the flow of balls into the box. Tottenham have a few aerially aggressive players in Dier, Alli, and Kane, so eliminating the service from the overlapping full-backs will be necessary.
Regardless of who plays at full-back for Tottenham, they all like to get forward. Sterling can expose these gaps with his immense pace and strength, so he should be played from the start of the game. Spurs have one of the best central defenders in the league with Toby Alderweireld, but he’s missing his usual partner Jan Vertonghen. His understudy, Kevin Wimmer, has done a pretty good job filling in for the older and more experienced Vertonghen, but is still very green to the league and can be exposed. Aguero can occupy Alderweireld’s duties whilst other players create off of him if he is so heavily man-marked.
David Silva cannot go silent in the game as he will be needed to expose the gaps in the defence. The link-up between him and Sterling will be tough to deal with, but keeping Kolarov out of the offensive mix is just as important. Often times he wastes possession by firing a ball into the box with almost no one attacking it, this will lead to Tottenham breaking on a transitioning City team. Keeping this useless tactic out of the game is necessary.
Vincent Kompany is said to be available for this fixture, but City should be wary of rushing him right back into action. If he’s truly ready, then by all means play the much-needed Captain, but rushing him back and seeing him suffer another injury could literally sink the Blues’ title hopes.
This is a crucial three points to win if City are to remain competitive in the title race. It wouldn’t be the end of the world if they lost this game, but with the look of Leicester actually having a chance of winning the league looking more likely by the week, closing the gap sooner than later would be ideal. The league leaders only have 12 games across all competitions left in their season, it’s not so outlandish to suggest that they have a decent shot. It’s time for City to prove that they can win the key fixtures and go on to win the title.
