Manchester City host Tottenham Hotspur in a top-of-table clash in the second matchweek of 2025-26 Premier League.
Having both claimed big wins over Wolves and Burnley respectively on the opening weekend, victory will see Man City or Tottenham sit top come full time.
Team News
Man City could have Rodri and Phil Foden available following respective groin and ankle injuries, which saw the pair miss City’s 4-0 victory at Wolves on the opening weekend.
Ederson missed the trip to Molineux due to illness and personal reasons – having been subject of transfer speculation, but is now available for selection.
Marcus Bettinelli (knock), Josko Gvardiol (knock), Kalvin Phillips, Mateo Kovacic (Achilles) and Savinho (unspecified) remain ruled out.
Tottenham have no fresh injury concerns to report following their win over Burnley after Yves Bissouma suffered an unspecified injury the day beforehand.
Radu Dragusin, James Maddison (both ACL), Destiny Udogie, Dejan Kulusevski, Bryan Gil (all knee), Manor Solomon (calf) and Kota Takai (foot) are ruled out.
When is Kick-Off?
Man City face Tottenham at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday 23 August at 12:30pm BST, live on TNT Sports 1 in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Man City have claimed seven points in their last five league meetings against Tottenham (W2, D1, L2).
- Tottenham have lost just one of their last four league visits to Man City (W2, D1, L1).
- In this fixture last season, the team playing away emerged victorious with a clean sheet – as Spurs won 4-0 at the Etihad Stadium and Man City won 1-0 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
- Erling Haaland has scored three goals in City’s last two league games (W2), which saw them keep clean sheets on both occasions.
- Tottenham are winless in their last six league games away from home (D1, L5).
Prediction
Having comfortably breezed past Wolves with a clinical display despite having to play the patience game for much of the first half, Man City already looked to be clicking into gear quickly despite their squad revamp over summer but this will be the first proper top-quality test of their credentials.]
Tottenham likewise are in a similar boat after a comfortable home win over Burnley so confidence will be high despite their already heavy injury list, with Richarlison in particular looking rejuvenated but they will need a plan b if City can nullify their wide play.
Either way this could well be a pretty open game if City are again initially sluggish and Spurs can hit the top gears quickly, but I do think that City might just prove too strong.
Prediction: Man City 2-1 Tottenham
Result: Man City 0-2 Tottenham
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