In his recent column for Sportskeeda, Paul Merson has urged Antonio Conte to not make a mistake he’s made once already this season at Tottenham Hotspur.
Spurs are gearing up for what will likely be one of their toughest games of the season on Saturday evening when they travel to the Etihad Stadium and face off against Manchester City who are yet to lose this season.
However, Merson has urged Conte to not make the mistake he did when Spurs played Chelsea away from home and in his words ‘got ripped to shreds‘ which was mainly down to Spurs relinquishing possession and sitting off Chelsea, as is showcased by the average position of the majority of the Tottenham players being in their own half.
Merson believes that Conte can’t set up the same way against Man City, especially with Erling Halland about as he said:
‘Antonio Conte and co got ripped to shreds at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea, but they somehow fought back to secure a 2-2 draw. If he gets it wrong at the Etihad Stadium, though, they won’t be able to recover.’
Will Spurs win on Saturday?
Yes!
No!
TIF Thoughts on Spurs’ tactics vs Man City…
As highlighted by WhoScored, Spurs did indeed give up possession a lot when they travelled to Stamford Bridge, and somehow managed to come away with a point in a thrilling 2-2 draw, however, given the calibre of attacking options Man City have at their disposal, it’s unlikely they’ll be as generous.
In that game against Chelsea, the Blues managed to dominate the ball boasting 65% of possession and Tottenham still got a point, however, Man City currently average 72.6% possession per game which shows how they dominate teams and put them under so much pressure.
Therefore, Conte may well be better off setting Spurs up to get after Man City and trying to shock their system, much like Newcastle United did in their 3-3 draw because Spurs have the attacking options to hurt Man City with the likes of Harry Kane, Dejan Kulusevski, Son Heung-min and Richarlison.
If we win, great. If we draw, then that to me will feel like a win. However, if we LOSE on Saturday? then we mustn’t let that result carry over to the next games, because not only do city have a bigger and more experienced squad than us, but they had an easier game in Europe, AND one extra day of rest.
The goalposts are firmly stacked in their favour!
Do you even watch football? We will sit back and we will win just like last year
Rightly said. Spurs have the firepower to hurt Man City. Harrase the City plsyers. AND PASS UPFRONT TOWARDS THE CITY DEFENCE, AS THERE’S THE 50:50 CHANCE TO SCORE.