Spurs have enjoyed an excellent start to the 2016/17 campaign, winning four and drawing two of their opening six matches to sit second in the early standings. Mauricio Pochettino's charges’ backline has been breached on only three occasions so far – no team in the division has a superior defensive record – while Tottenham have also started to find their feet in an attacking sense, with South Korea international Son Heung-min having found the back of the net five times in his last five outings in all competitions. Spurs are, in many ways, ahead of schedule – they were not expected to challenge for the title as they did last term – and Sunday's meeting with the league leaders will be a stern test of their credentials.
City have won all six of their Premier League encounters so far, with Wednesday's 3-3 draw at Celtic Park the first time they have failed to emerge victorious from a game since Pep Guardiola took charge. City have produced some sparkling attacking football – Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva, Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero have all impressed – but concerns remain about their defensive solidity: despite having had a relatively straightforward fixture list thus far, Guardiola's men have still only kept one clean sheet in the top flight.
Tottenham will have to make do without striker Harry Kane for this encounter, while central midfielder Mousa Dembele's chances are rated as 50-50. Eric Dier, Moussa Sissoko and Danny Rose are all expected to be available for selection, though, with Vincent Janssen in line to deputise for the absent Kane once more. Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld is arguably the league’s sturdiest central defensive pairing, while Dier will have an important role to play in protecting the back four.
City, meanwhile, will be unable to call upon the services of De Bruyne, Vincent Kompany and Fabian Delph, but Guardiola otherwise has a fully fit squad of players to choose from. Ilkay Gundogan is again set to continue in De Bruyne’s absence alongside Silva and Fernandinho in the centre of the park, with Nolito and Leroy Sane vying for a place on the opposite flank to Sterling. Aleksandar Kolarov is likely to shift across to left-back, with John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi the favourites to start in the heart of the defence.
Although Tottenham have begun the campaign well, it is probably worth backing City to eke out a narrow win at White Hart Lane; even the current best defence in the league may struggle to cope with the best attack, so a 2-1 away win could be the way to go in this one. Guardiola’s side have certainly not been watertight at the back, however, so two other options for this weekend’s highly-anticipated clash are both teams to score and over 2.5 goals to be converted in total.
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