Tottenham Hotspur are all set to host defending champions Manchester City at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday in their first game of the new Premier League campaign.
Both teams would be aiming to start the season with flying colours, with players expected to be involved on the pitch at the weekend capable of making it a mouthwatering contest.
Tottenham Hotspur failed to qualify for the Champions League for the second successive season, finishing seventh on the table. Under new manager Nuno Espirito Santo, the Lilywhites will want to break their long trophy drought and clinch a top-four finish.
For Manchester City, who have won three of the last four Premier League titles, defending the crown will be tough, but there’s no better manager and team equipped than Pep Guardiola and co. to do so. After losing in the FA Community Shield to Leicester City, Guardiola will be hoping for a strong response from his boys in north London.
Here are the three things we look forward to in this game on Sunday.
How will the Spurs fans welcome Harry Kane against Manchester City?
It is an open secret that Manchester City are interested in signing Tottenham star Harry Kane.
Having seen an offer of £100m rejected in June, Manchester City are prepared to pay a £127m transfer fee to sign Kane should Tottenham change their stance. Kane, 28, desperate to leave the club, has been training individually while quarantining at Spurs’ training complex since returning to England from a long break.
Nuno Espirito Santo has indicated that the England striker is in contention for Sunday’s game amid continued uncertainty over his future. With a couple of days of training with his teammates, Kane will start the game on the bench. But should he come on as a substitute, the reception he gets from the Spurs fans will be interesting to watch.
Jack Grealish’s chance to announce his arrival at Manchester City
Pep Guardiola started Riyad Mahrez, Ferran Torres and the talented academy product Samuel Edozie against Leicester City in the FA Community Shield. Edozie gave a glimpse of his promise before being replaced by new signing Jack Grealish in the 65th minute.
Grealish, the most expensive player in the Premier League history, had barely trained with his new teammates before the Community Shield game. Having now trained over a week, the England international would be fit and raring to start for the Sky Blues.
With Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden out injured, Grealish could be the creative force to help City breach the Spurs backline. Truly, the game against Spurs would be the perfect opportunity for the 25-year-old to announce his arrival as a City player.
Can Tottenham’s defence stop Man City?
Nuno and Tottenham will be relieved knowing they’ll not have to combat Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden on Sunday. Yet, the prospect of facing Riyad Mahrez, Ferran Torres, Bernardo Silva, Gabriel Jesus, Ilkay Gundogan and Jack Grealish in Sunday’s game still appears scary.
New signing Cristian Romero is unlikely to be thrown into the starting XI, which means Eric Dier and Davinson Sanchez are set to start at the heart of the Spurs defence with Serge Aurier and Sergio Reguilon as full-backs.
Dier and Sanchez have a periodical mistake or two embedded in their games, while Aurier and Reguilon aren’t defensively great. Against City, the Spurs backline along with the goalkeeper Hugo Lloris will have to be at their resilient best.
That being said, it’ll be interesting to see how Nuno tries to solve his team’s defensive conundrum and stop City in front of the home fans.
