Spurs started the season off with a memorable win last weekend for two reasons – Tanguy grabbing a stunner of a goal in his first competitive appearance and, more importantly, Kane netting in the opening game of the season.
He bagged a brace and has firmly put this August no goal hoodoo behind him. Now, he needs to shake off his ineffectiveness against the team he arguably struggles against the most – Manchester City.
Spurs travel to the Etihad on Saturday for what could be the described as the toughest game for any side in the league generally, let alone your second game when you’re still trying to find your rhythm.
Looking through various match reports from the Spurs website and Sportsmole – you’ll find that Kane has a poor scoring record v the Manchester sides. They’re the joint lowest in terms of his tally against the remaining top-six sides.
Against City, he’s scored only two times in seven appearances. Out of the two goals, only one came from open play and, more worryingly, only one came at the Etihad.
Compare that to City’s key striker in Aguero during the same timeframe (Transfermarkt) and it’s a complete mismatch with Kun bagging five goals in nine appearances. In all competitions, he’s hit 11 goals in 16 appearances v Spurs.
Kane’s overall involvement against City has been severely marginalised in league appearances too. On one hand, City’s superior squad and ball dominance would minimalize Spurs’ attacking players and the service into them. Kane would suffer the most from this but there is more beneath the surface as shown in his last two league apps v City.
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Kane averaged 3.4 shots per game during the 18/19 season (WhoScored) in the Premier League yet had only 1 shot in the home match v City which was off target.
He also had the fewest touches of all the attacking players (32) and one ground duel won out of eight with a 76.5% pass accuracy (SofaScore). Rewind back to 17/18 in the same fixture and he had an even worse touch tally (17) with 0 shots attempted and a 40% pass accuracy. Horrible reading for a firmly renowned complete striker.
With Kane having his first summer off since 2017, Poch recently commented on how he used this to improve stating “the mentality is to enjoy your holidays and then prepare, arrive fit and improve in the four, five or six weeks we have ….. that for me is one of the keys of Harry Kane to be in the shape that he is today”.
Kane looked razor-sharp during pre-season and displayed this sharpness in the second half versus Villa. He must now stamp his authority against the very best in the league.
Aguero is the scourge of Tottenham despite not scoring against them in his last seven league appearances. Sterling has taken the baton in recent appearances against Spurs with devastating scoring and general performances. Kane needs to replicate this same impact against City on Saturday.
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