Former Arsenal man Martin Keown has refused to write off Tottenham but predicts that Manchester City will come out on top when the two sides meet in the Champions League quarter finals.
The two English sides were paired off against each other on Friday having both seen off German opposition in the round of 16 – City demolishing Schalke while Spurs comfortably saw off Borussia Dortmund.
Delivering his verdict on the tie, which means Mauricio Pochettino and Pep Guardiola will come up against each other three times in 10 days, Keown backed the reigning Premier League champions but warned of the quality the north London outfit hold.
In his column for the Daily Mail, he wrote: “I’ve said that City will win the competition so I expect them to get the job done against Spurs but it won’t be easy.
“You only have to look at the contrasting workloads for the two teams. If Brighton win their FA Cup quarter-final on Saturday, Tottenham will have their feet up the weekend before they are due to play the first leg.
“City have a gruelling run of six games in just 18 days in which they will play Spurs three times, a potential FA Cup semi-final, a Manchester derby at Old Trafford and a tricky trip to Crystal Palace.”
Opinion
When there are so many fixtures packed into one tight schedule it can often leave a side struggling for fitness and that will be what Spurs are hoping City have to endure in the build up to their showdown. On the other hand, successive victories can be great for momentum and the last thing that Pochettino and his men want to come up against are a City side brimming with confidence in full flow. Chelsea and Schalke are two big name teams who have been well and truly embarrassed by the likes of Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero in recent weeks and Tottenham will be wanting to at least make their two-legged clash a competition. Having a break before heading into the tie will give the Lilywhites extra time to prepare and rest, so there might well be an influx of support coming in from north London for Brighton when they take on Millwall in the FA Cup this weekend.