Paul Merson and Chris Sutton are both in agreement that Manchester City will snatch three points from Tottenham. Antonio Conte's side are set to welcome the reigning champions to N17 this afternoon as they look to exact their revenge following a defeat in the reverse fixture last month.
Dejan Kulusevski opened the scoring before Emerson Royal doubled Spurs' lead in the final moments of the first-half at the Etihad Stadium. With a two goal advantage at the break, Tottenham looked set to clinch all three points but Pep Guardiola's side had other ideas.
City began the second-half in the ascendancy and levelled the scoreline inside the opening ten minutes, thanks to Julian Alvarez and Erling Haaland. The Citizens went from strength to strength and Riyad Mahrez eventually clinched the victory to keep table-toppers Arsenal in their sights.
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Following the Gunners' loss to Everton, a win over Spurs will put City just two points behind top spot. While Tottenham will be eager to avenge their loss to the reigning champions, a result would gift their arch-rivals a huge boost towards the Premier League title.
Speaking to Sportskeeda ahead of the Gunners' trip to Merseyside, Merson issued his prediction for the clash. The former Arsenal midfielder said: "The pressure’s going to be on Manchester City this week. They’ll probably be eight points behind Arsenal when they play this game, and they can’t afford anything less than a win here.
"If they don’t beat Tottenham, I don’t see how they can make up the difference. I think Julian Alvarez would start in any other football team. He’s a very good player, and he changed the game against Arsenal.
"Erling Haaland is going to start up front, with Mahrez on the right – these guys are shoo-ins," Merson added. "At the moment, Pep Guardiola seems to fancy Grealish more than Foden.
"Pep knows what he’s doing – he pushes players, gets the best out of them for as long as he can, and then changes it up. It’s quite clever how he does it, and he’s fortunate to have the players to do it.
"Something has definitely happened with Joao Cancelo. I know he’s come out and denied it, but something’s gone on. He was one of the best players in the Premier League last season, and now he’s on loan at Bayern Munich – I don’t see how that deal happens.
"Man City are playing on a lot of fronts, and an injury could end their season. Cancelo has played in the Champions League and he’s been a big player for City. I’m shocked, and I don’t believe that nothing’s happened.
"Manchester City have a nice fixture list in the Premier League after this game, and this is a big match. Tottenham will sit back and make it hard for them, but City should be able to win this game."
Sutton agrees and claims that Conte's absence from the sideline will come at a huge cost for Tottenham. In a column for the BBC, the former Blackburn Rovers and Chelsea striker wrote: "I know Joao Cancelo has not been at his best this season but I still think his departure is a massive loss to Manchester City.
"Cancelo has been integral to City’s success in the past couple of seasons but something has clearly gone on that meant Pep Guardiola was willing to let him leave and they have not replaced him either.
"It’s a huge call, especially with City playing catch-up to Arsenal in the title race, but it would be typical of what we’ve seen under Pep if they responded with a win here.
"Spurs might still think it’s a good time to play them, and it was a boost that Son Heung-min got back among the goals against Preston last weekend. But with boss Antonio Conte likely to be absent after surgery, I am going with another City victory to go with their comeback to beat Tottenham at Etihad Stadium last month."
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