Foden’s future, Kane’s absence and more: Talking points from Man City’s win vs Tottenham

Manchester City maintained their excellent record against the ‘big six’ in the Premier League following a narrow 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.

The victory helped the defending champions to regain their status as league leaders momentarily which was promptly seen to by Liverpool who emerged 2-0 winners against Cardiff City.

Meanwhile, here are three talking points we observed from City’s narrow win over the Lilywhites.

Tottenham missing Harry Kane

While last midweek’s exhilarating counter-attacking display clearly suggested how Tottenham can be lethal in front of goal even without Harry Kane, the Lilywhites definitely missed the services of their talismanic forward in the league match.

Although the likes of Christian Eriksen, Lucas Moura and Son Heung-Min did rather well in creating chances with neat interplays and clever runs in between the defence, the lack of end product allowed City to walk away with all three points.

Son, in particular, missed a golden opportunity in the first half, when he was too late to take a shot – a chance which may have been converted by Kane.

While it may be argued that the visitors were unlucky, thanks to Ederson’s antics during the final phase of the game, the absence of Kane will surely be a worrying factor for Mauricio Pochettino, especially with Champions League football coming up.

Phil Foden’s maiden goal: first of many?

Phil Foden’s well-directed header in the fifth minute to score the opener was his first goal in the Premier League. The attacking prodigy was only making his second start this season and while he may not have been as influential as Bernardo Silva or David Silva, Foden’s willingness to run at defenders coupled with his positioning inside the box made life difficult for the Tottenham defenders.

This will be a positive sign for coach Pep Guardiola amid reports linking Leroy Sane to a move away from Etihad in the summer while Riyad Mahrez has also failed to make a strong impression after joining the club last summer.

It will be interesting to see what the future holds for this talented youngster, who, in turn, was linked with a loan move to Germany earlier this season.

Is Juan Foyth ready to take on the mantle of regular first-team football next season?

Mauricio Pochettino’s decision to deploy Juan Foyth as the right wing-back in order to rest first-choice defender Kieran Trippier seemed like a bizarre one. But, the young Argentine ended up producing a stellar defensive display to keep up with the marauding Raheem Sterling on the right flank.

The 21-year-old also produced a similar display in the UEFA Champions League match against Borussia Dortmund earlier this campaign and has impressed whenever he has called upon so far.

This could be a boon for Tottenham, who are in the risk of losing Toby Alderweireld in the summer, with the Belgian reportedly having a €25 million release that can be activated when the transfer window re-opens in July.