Spurs 0-1 Manchester City Review

Premier League GW27

It's an important win for Manchester City at a ground they’ve always struggled at under Guardiola, and some interesting performances from individual players to delve into. All the while, other competitors for the CL spots dropped points during the midweek fixtures. It sets up the match against Forest nicely, a chance to move into third.

MOTM: JEREMY DOKU

Other mentions include Abdukodir Khusanov and Ederson

Notable Stats:

• Erling Haaland is only the second player ever to score 20+ goals in each of his first three Premier League seasons, after Ruud van Nistelrooy from 2001-02 to 2003-04.

• Archie Gray tonight becomes only the second player to make 20 Premier League appearances for Tottenham Hotspur before turning 19, along with Aaron Lennon in 2006.

• Erling Haaland has scored seven goals in six Premier League games in London this season. In the competition’s history, only Tony Yeboah has scored more in the capital in a single campaign among players to play for non-London sides (8 in 1995/96).

Game Stats:

Spurs 0-1 Manchester City

• xG: 1.65 - 2.13

• xThreat: 1.73 - 1.01

• Possession: 54.7% - 45.3%

• Field Tilt: 47.5% - 52.5%

• Penalty Box Shots: 11 - 6

• Deep Entries: 13 - 13

• PPDA: 8.3 - 10.4

• High Turnovers: 5 - 6

Sometimes the xG chart does an excellent job of summarizing how the match went. Manchester had several excellent chances to score in the first half, took one of them, and kept Spurs to almost nothing. In the second half, it was Manchester City that was kept to a handful of half-chances as Spurs created two big chances, pushing for an equalizer until the end.

This was the first time in a long while that Manchester City suffered, as Guardiola likes to say, and got through it. Genuinely up against it in the second half, Spurs brought on a few key players and couldn’t find the goal they were looking for. A ball whipped across the box that Odebert could get on the end of, and the chance Son has is saved by Ederson.

I’ve removed all of the cup competitions on the rolling xG and xGA graphic below, and you’ll see the difference between Manchester City starting the season well, going through a long tough run with problems across the team, and eventually finding their way out. Looking much more stable.

Akanji and Khusanov are the only central defenders to have started four matches in a row for Manchester City in 2025.

Jeremy Doku completes back-to-back 90 minutes for the first time in his City career.

If you want to stay up-to-date on individual player minutes, back four combinations, underlying numbers, and more, check out the live Google sheet below. 👇

Here is how both teams lined up for the game midweek, as Manchester City continued to lean into their new signings and younger players in the squad and Erling Haaland returned. His central presence, similar to that of Rodri and Dias, gives structure to the forwards around him. It’s his gravity that draws in opposition players who cannot afford to leave him 1v1 often, opening up space for others.

Nunes would invert into midfield to form a double pivot with Kovacic, and Nico Gonzalez was free to move across the pitch as an eight. Savinho/Doku are providing the width on either side, and Marmoush is making counter movements to Haaland as he drops deep.

Spurs looked to press in a 4-5-1 shape with the LM/RM jumping on the wide CBs of City (Gvardiol/Khusanov) as Tel came to support. Narrow midfield three of Spurs tracking the City midfielders meant the passing lanes were open in the 1v1 threats Savinho/Doku provided. The usual pattern was a City attacker dropping deep to support, Ederson playing long and exposing the high line of Spurs.

Nico Gonzalez would look to drag Bergval and other midfielders around with him, often pulling Bergvall outside so that Doku could receive the ball and move inside in the buildup. Nico would also drift up towards the last line at times as Marmoush dropped deeper.

E. Haaland 12' 0-1 

The opening goal, and what turned out to be the only one on the night, was excellent from back to front by Manchester City. Both FB's pushed up high on the flanks, CBs split, double pivot of Nico/Kova, and Ederson became +1 to pick out Marmoush/Haaland. Straight into Marmoush, first touch away from Danso, who jumped, lay off to Savinho, who finds Haaland and then onto Nico Gonzalez.

Nico was then able to quickly find Jeremy Doku isolated against Porro, driving into the box and passing through for Haaland to score. Notice the number of players arriving into the box and the run Haaland makes. Further back, not going to the near post but instead arriving in the middle of the 6-yard box. Savinho didn't get the pass but made good movement initially towards the near post and then dropping back into space for a cutback.

At the start of the match, there was some concern about Nico Gonzelez not playing as the six, but it was, in hindsight, a clear intention of Guardiola to have him find Jeremy Doku isolated. It's a sign of what's to follow next season once Rodri is back, giving us as well as Pep a better look at what Nico will be doing as the eight. The rotations with Marmoush to join the front line, dragging Spurs midfielders to open up space inside for the wingers, all the rotations you’d have seen from Gundogan at his best.

Jeremy Doku created 2 big chances, 6 progressive passes, 11 progressive carries, 4 carries into the penalty box, and 5 successful take-ons. Unfortunate not to have two assists (Haaland, Savinho). The 'Jeremy Doku Lane' on the LHS was a consistent outlet for the team to progress the ball and attack Spurs.

As you can see in the chances highlighted by SCOUTED below, these are huge chances Manchester City needed to take in the first half if they wanted to kill the game. Instead, they only take one, and Spurs have the opportunity, with the players off the bench, to try to win it.

In the second half, Spurs had their chances, starting with the low cross across the 6-yard box that Odobert was unable to finish as he slid across. However, Nunes was right with him to block it. Ederson makes a great save to deny Son, which stemmed from Bernardo Silva losing the ball trying to dribble past two players. Another individual mistake, Savinho losing the ball, meant Spurs could break to find Sarr, but he scuffed the shot. The last chance of the match for them was a difficult header for Sarr that Son flicked on. The position is far more dangerous than the chance, and it is not easy for him to direct that at goal.

As for the second Haaland goal, which should have been given, the referee made the initial call, which was the mistake. VAR is unable to intervene.

It's far more than his recovery pace that has me and other City fans so excited about Khusanov. With four consecutive starts now, apart from Plymouth this weekend, I'd expect him to start at least 9 of the remaining 11 PL games. That includes some rest, and if he’s needed for an FA Cup semi-final, should we get there. The aggression he brings into duels has been much needed, but he measures it so well. Not reckless. Those recovery challenges will breed confidence into the full-backs and midfielders ahead of him so that they can depend on Khusanov.

Foden and Bernardo (74’) came on in the second half for Gonzalez and Marmoush. McAtee (90’), Grealish (90’+2), and Gundogan (90’+4) all come on in stoppage time, which I thought was well managed by Guardiola to run down the clock. I thought those subs should have come sooner when watching, but in hindsight, it worked out.

It’s only the first season for Savinho. Every winger who arrived at Manchester City came with different issues they needed to improve, and for him, it’s the finishing. He arrives better into the box than at the start of the season, good places to shoot from, but as highlighted below, the left foot finishes across the keeper and will be on his training plan to get it right.

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Moving Forward

It’s crucial that during the tough run of games, we won games against Chelsea, Spurs, and Newcastle. The same applies to Forest coming up next in the league. As great as it would have been to get points against Liverpool and Arsenal, those are not as important, and the level of consistency required for the top four is lower than in the title race. We can afford to lose those, provided we win the rest. So far, the team has delivered on that.

Plymouth in the FA Cup is a must-win and a great opportunity to rest players ahead of the Forest match. Beat them to go third. After that, the fixtures will start to spread out, and players can regularly get a full week between games. Something Josko Gvardiol needs.

We’ve got a group below Haaland for G+A in Foden (14), Doku (13), Savinho (11), and Nunes (11), all in double figures. A couple of those need to go up another gear with their output during the final run of games if we want to secure the Champions League spot and win the FA Cup.

If you don’t follow him already, I recommend checking out the account of Spencer Mossman linked here. He provides all sorts of interesting graphics, using data to tell football stories. Jeremy Doku is in a league of his own when it comes to his value as a ball carrier, progressing the team up the pitch and being able to beat players 1v1.

As we come around towards the final bend, it’s worth looking at the other teams we are competing with for the Champions League places. I’ve highlighted by fixture difficulty, that being the current league position. Once Forest (A) is finished, the remaining run for Manchester City is relatively as good as it gets compared to our competitors. Interestingly, the same applies to Nottingham Forest.

I had to mention this graphic from the latest edition of SCOUTED, which highlights the increase in physical output by Premier League players across the last several seasons. Trending up. It pairs well with the physical decline of Manchester City this season as they enter a rebuild in the summer. It’s no surprise when you look at the new signings from January; all of them tick the boxes for handling that intensity. Vitor Reis was also mentioned in another piece they did on buying central defenders directly from Brazil, which you can find here.

The last point to end on is Claudio Echeverri, who was announced by the club and already into first-team training. He was given the full works earlier today in his signing announcement, which is quite telling. The match against Plymouth might come too soon for Echeverri, but I reckon there is a good chance he’s involved off the bench. With the rebuild coming in the summer, there is a real opportunity for him to impress.

Next up for Manchester City is Plymouth Argyle in the 5th round of the FA Cup.

If you’re looking for any further content on the Spurs match, I’d recommend this excellent thread from The American Cityzen linked below. 👇