Manchester City face bogey side Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday night as Pep Guardiola's side look to cut the gap between themselves and Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table.
After going a goal ahead, City suffered a 2-1 defeat to Manchester United in the Manchester derby last weekend, with the equaliser for United being scored in controversial fashion. The loss left City eight points behind league leaders Arsenal, with United now level on points with Pep Guardiola's side.
City have won just two out of the last seven league meetings with Antonio Conte's side. Guardiola's men lost both games against Spurs last season, the most recent a 3-2 defeat at home.
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So, could City keep the pressure on Arsenal and overcome their poor fortune against Spurs? Let's take a look.
Man City vs Spurs score predicted by simulation
To complete this simulation, we used FIFA 23 and updated the squads with the latest injuries and suspensions.
We predict that City could set up in a 4-3-3 formation, with their line-up as follows: Ederson; Walker, Stones, Akanji, Ake; Rodri, De Bruyne, Gundogan; Mahrez, Haaland, Grealish.
We predict that Spurs could line up in a 3-4-3 formation, with their line-up as follows: Lloris; Romero, Dier, Lenglet; Doherty, Bentancur, Hojbjerg, Perisic; Son, Kane, Kulusevski.
City took control of the clash from the first minute, with Guardiola's side testing Hugo Lloris multiple times in the opening stages whilst rarely allowing Spurs a sniff of goal. And 26 minutes in the hosts found themselves 2-0 up, with Erling Haaland netting both.
The first strike came in real poacher's style, with the striker pouncing on Lloris' spill from a corner and bundling the ball over the line from close range. Haaland's second was his standout of the two, with Ilkay Gundogan rolling the ball through the legs of Eric Dier for the Norwegian to claim before blasting a powerful strike into the top corner.
City dominated the opening 45 minutes, but just before the break, Harry Kane pulled a goal back for Spurs, shrugging off John Stones to push through on goal and curl an effort beyond Ederson. It was Spurs' first shot of the game, but just 13 minutes after the restart, City restored their two-goal lead.
Kevin De Bruyne sent a corner into the box from the left, and his inswinging cross was under hit, falling to a sea of bodies at the front post. Manuel Akanji did fantastically to meet the ball and guide a header across goal, flying past Lloris and into the far corner of the net.
Jack Grealish hit the post twice in the next 20 minutes, the first a curling effort towards the far corner of the goal and his second another long-range effort, this time drilling the ball against the near post. City started to see the game out with a healthy lead in their hands, but they managed to add a fourth in the 84th minute as they caught the visitors on the break.
As he always does, Rodri broke up a Spurs counterattack with a fantastic interception, and with many bodies still forward for City they outnumbered Spurs drastically. The Spaniard found Grealish on the left who squared the ball to Haaland, and the Norwegian swept the ball into the net for his hat-trick to secure an impressive 4-1 victory.
FIFA 23 predicted score: Man City 4-1 Spurs
Here are the full-time match stats:
FIFA 23 predicts that City could respond to derby defeat the better out of the two sides, with Guardiola's side beating Spurs 4-1 in the simulation. Haaland was back to his best as he notched a hat-trick against a shaky Spurs defence, but the clean sheet evaded City again in an emphatic victory.
What do you think the final score will be? Let us know in the comments.
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