Tottenham Hotspur - Manchester City predictions and free betting tips [26/01/2024]

On Friday 26th January, as part of the 1/16 final of the FA Cup, Tottenham will host Manchester City at their home ground. Spurs triumphed over Burnley with 1:0 in the previous round, while the Mancunians began their conquest with a whopping 5:0 victory over Huddersfield Town.

Predicted Line-ups

Tottenham: Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Hojbjerg, Bentancur; Johnson, Kulusevski, Werner; Richarlison.
Manchester City: Ortega; Walker, Dias, Ake, Gvardiol; Rodri, Kovacic; Silva, De Bruyne, Foden; Alvarez.

Stadium

The match will take place in London at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium.

Tottenham

In the last round of the FA Cup, Tottenham had to break a sweat to overpower Burnley at home (1:0) - it was Pedro Porro’s powerful shot outside the penalty box that decided the result. Managed by Ange Postecoglou, the London-based club is occupying the 5th place in the Premier League standings and is 3 points away from the top four. After a dreadful November, Spurs have found their rhythm: in the last six league games, they have only been defeated by Brighton with a 4:2 score, won four times and managed one draw.

Following a victory over Bournemouth (3:1), the hosts drew against Manchester United (2:2) thanks to the efforts of Richarlison and Rodrigo Bentancur. Tottenham's fans will be pleased by the fact that Spurs have been scoring in every match across all competitions since March 2023. Having been knocked out in August from the League Cup and missed out on the European competition following last year's campaign, Tottenham can now focus on successful performances in the Premier League and FA Cup. 

Manchester City

Manchester City are clear favorites for the FA Cup victory and showed their intent in the opening round with a 5:0 trouncing of Huddersfield Town. The Mancunians recently secured the Club World Championship by defeating Fluminense in the final (4:0). The proteges of Pep Guardiola are ranked second in the Premier League table with one game in hand and trail Liverpool by five points. However, any team can envy the current form of the Citizens.

Unbeaten in the last 5 rounds (4 victories and 1 draw), the visitors have won three consecutive games in the Premier League – against Everton (1:3), Sheffield United (2:0), and Newcastle (2:3). First, substitute De Bruyne accurately scored into the lower corner against Newcastle. Then, the Belgian assisted Oscar Bobb in the very end of the match. Having won their group in the Champions League (6 victories), Manchester City is set to face off against Copenhagen in the 1/8-final. England's reigning champions' squad continues to lack the key central defender Stones. 

Head-to-Head

The curse of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has been following Guardiola since its inauguration: City lost all five matches played here, without even scoring a goal.

Match Prediction Tottenham – Manchester City

After an exciting shootout with six goals in December, both teams will be keen to determine the strongest side this time around (the last game ended in a 3:3 draw). Tottenham's impressive campaign this season is hampered by significant squad issues, preventing them from competing on par with City's long bench. I believe that De Bruyne's return will be the key factor and City will bag the victory.

Prediction on Total 

As was mentioned above, City hasn't managed to make a scoring impression at the new Tottenham Stadium since its inauguration. This inexplicable streak will come to an end on Friday. I'm placing my bet on City’s individual total over 1.5 goals.

Prediction on Corners 

Manchester City will maintain the initiative and attack more, hence, I predict that the visitors will win with a corner handicap of -1.5.

Prediction on Yellow Cards 

Neither team is known for excessive rudeness on the field (on average, just 2 be yellow cards per match), so betting on fewer than 4.5 total bookings seems sensible.

Score Prediction

I am betting on a precise score of 1:3 in favor of Manchester City.