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PREMIER LEAGUE Refocused City expected to stage successful capital raid

Best bets and analysis for this week’s top-flight action

LIAM FLIN

Manchester City pulled off one of the comebacks of the season to beat Tottenham earlier this month and it’s hard to see beyond another win for Pep Guardiola’s men when the sides reconvene in London.

Following a Manchester derby defeat, City found themselves 2-0 down to Spurs at the Etihad at half-time earlier in January but turned on the style after the interval.

They were 3-2 up just after the hour mark and went on to win 4-2 thanks to goals from Julian Alvarez and Erling Haaland and a brace from Riyad Mahrez.

It was a reminder to never rule out Guardiola’s City, who have been second best to Arsenal in the Premier League title race this campaign but are still only five points adrift of the Gunners heading into the next weekend of action.

Since that Tottenham triumph, City eased past Wolves 3-0 thanks to a hat-trick from Haaland, who has scored 25 league goals in 19 matches, and pipped Arsenal 1-0 in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Beating the Gunners in the league will be of greater importance to City going forward, but that win should have boosted their confidence.

Their form dipped earlier in January, but it’s not as though they’ve gone off the rails and City have still won seven of their last ten league matches.

For Tottenham, the problems run deeper.

Antonio Conte’s contract is up in the summer and the Italian is in a precarious position as Spurs face a fierce battle to make the Champions League places with Newcastle and Manchester United above them in the standings.

Since the City loss, Spurs have edged past Fulham 1-0 in the league and eased past Preston in the FA Cup third round but they’ve still suffered seven league losses this term, four on home soil.

Newcastle, Liverpool and Arsenal have all come away from Tottenham with maximum points and it would hardly be a surprise to see City follow suit.

City have found their mojo again, whereas Spurs have plenty of work to do on and off the field with pressure growing to bring in new players before deadline day and the visitors can justify favouritism. STAT Manchester City have won three of their last four Premier League away games Manchester City

THE BIG MATCHES FOOTBALL

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2023-01-31T08:00:00.0000000Z

2023-01-31T08:00:00.0000000Z

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