EPL Betting – 1st-Place City Visit 2nd-Place Spurs
Manchester City (+135) at Tottenham (+200), Draw (+240)
After a little hiccup in the Champions League, EPL leaders Manchester City (6-0-0, 18 pts) will look to stay perfect in domestic play when they visit Tottenham (4-2-0, 14 pts) at White Hart Lane on Sunday (9:15 AM Eastern).
City are the only team on a perfect pace through six fixtures, winning all six of their matches by a combined score of 18-5. They’ve been equally potent at home and on the road, where they’ve outscored opponents 9-3.
They put up a trio of away goals against Celtic midweek in UCL play, but only managed to leave Scotland with a single point, conceding three times, themselves. It was the first draw for City in a meaningful match under new manager Pep Guardiola.
With 18 points through six matches, City already have a four-point cushion at the top of the EPL table. Sunday’s match is a massive one, though, as Spurs are currently second with 14 points. Unlike last year, Tottenham are getting it done with defense this season, conceding a league-low three goals in six games. They have two draws in league play, but are the only team besides City that’s yet to lose.
The Totties’ offense is not firing like it did last year (when they registered 69 goals, second-most in the league), scoring ten times so far. Surprisingly, most of their offensive struggles have come at White Hart Lane, where they have just three goals in three matches.
This probably isn’t the week the attack gets back on track, either, as City have a solid defense and top striker Harry Kane is doubtful with an ankle injury.
The team was still able to take the full three from its last UCL match, unlike City, topping CSKA Moscow 1-0 in Russia.
The recent head-to-head between Tottenham and City has been back-and-forth. Tottenham won the last two (2-1 away; 4-1 home) but City took the three prior.
There haven’t been a lot of draws between these sides of late, but with Kane doubtful and Tottenham relying on their defense, it looks like good value for Sunday.
Pick: Draw (+240).
Photo credit: enviro warrior (Harry Kane) CC BY-SA 2.0 [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0], via Wikimedia Commons.
Zack is a tour guide whose favorite sports are football, baseball, and golf. He enjoys giving obnoxious commentary during games and hopes to some day write a book about sports. His favorite underdog victory was the Diamondbacks beating the Yankees in game 7 of the World Series.
