Charlie Nicholas on who will win between Man City vs Tottenham

Sky Sports pundit Charlie Nicholas has given his prediction ahead of Tottenham Hotspur’s trip to Manchester City.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side travel to the Etihad with a one goal advantage after Heung-min Son scored the only goal of the game at the new Spurs stadium last Tuesday.

A place in the semi final of the Champions League awaits the victor and Spurs will have to do so without star striker Harry Kane after his well-publicised ankle injury which was sustained in the first leg.

Nicholas, a former Arsenal midfielder believes that it will be Pep Guardiola’s side who will run out as 3-1 winners to end Spurs’ European hopes.

He has suggested that Pochettino will set his side up to play on the counter attack to try and protect their advantage. Kevin De Bruyne was named among the substitutes for the first leg to the surprise of many and Nicholas has tipped the Belgian playmaker to be the difference between the sides.

He told Sky Sports: “This will be another tight affair. Man City have to score with another couple of goals and see if they can flex their muscles and get something.

“I see Raheem Sterling and his pace, it is just brilliant to watch. His goal against Crystal Palace, for example. The ball from Kevin De Bruyne combined with the run inside the man from Sterling was just sensational. I hope for their sake they start Sterling, Leroy Sane and Sergio Aguero once again, as these can damage Tottenham, who will sit in and play on the counter-attack with Lucas Moura’s pace.

“He scored a great hat-trick at the weekend. It is whether they are good enough to keep the ball. Harry Winks will come back in and play with Moussa Sissoko while Christian Eriksen will play further up.

“Sometimes you can force the pass in these games and the key to this game is De Bruyne. He has the determination to find the pass and he is good without the ball as well. Man City will go through – it will go right to the wire, but City are still holding the edge at this moment. Even at the weekend, they conceded to make it 2-1 but had the final push to get another.

“Prediction: 3-1.”

Keep up to date with all the latest Tottenham news and opinion by following SpursWeb’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

Related Topics

Have something to tell us about this article? Let us know