Credit: Imago

Chris Smith

Fri 22 August 2025 16:24, UK

Tottenham Hotspur face their first major challenge of the new Premier League season when they travel to Manchester City for Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off.

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The Lilywhites made an excellent start to the campaign with a 3-0 win over Burnley last week, going a long way toward banishing last season’s miserable 17th-place finish — though, of course, the Europa League title had already pretty much done that.

But Thomas Frank now has a real acid test early in his Spurs reign, travelling to a City side hellbent on regaining the Premier League title and making a statement themselves by thrashing Wolves 4-0 away from home.

Frank will be desperate to take some form of result from the Etihad Stadium to make a statement about what he can bring to his new club, but how well-equipped is he to do so?

Spurs are still dealing with a raft of injuries heading into this big clash in Manchester.

Of course, Dejan Kulusevski, Radu Dragusin and James Maddison are long-term absentees, but alongside them, there are doubts over the availability of Destiny Udogie and Yves Bissouma – though the former is closing in on a return.

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Manor Solomon and Bryan Gil are also sidelined, but wouldn’t have played anyway.

Frank has confirmed Richarlison will be his starting striker after a sensational two-goal performance against Burnley, meaning Dominic Solanke remains stuck on the bench – unless the Dane switches to a 3-5-2 formation.

He had two top games, he’s [a] Brazilian number nine,” Frank said of Richarlison during his pre-match press conference (BBC, 22 August).

“He’s a very good player, I’m very happy with him.

It’s a long season, we need players with different abilities.”

Tottenham’s predicted XI vs Manchester City

Football Insider verdict

There’s no doubting this is a serious increase in difficulty for Spurs compared to Burnley last week — with all due respect to the Clarets.

However, Tottenham are in a good place right now following that win against Scott Parker’s men, following up a strong performance in the Uefa Super Cup against PSG.

City were, of course, also excellent at Wolves last weekend, and both sides will now be keen to test each other here.

Frank has enough of his star players fit to cause Pep Guardiola’s side issues, and the likes of Richarlison and Mohammed Kudus have already shown an excellent understanding in the final third.

What’s more, the likes of Joao Palhinha and Rodrigo Bentancur — who is close to agreeing a new Spurs contract — have the exact skillset to frustrate the Cityzens in midfield.

To win at the Etihad is a tough ask, but Spurs have a funny habit of upsetting City on this ground and could pick up a result again.

Prediction: Man City 2-2 Spurs

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