The FanSided soccer staff make their predictions for the weekend’s Premier League games, including Manchester City vs. Tottenham at the Etihad.
The Premier League’s hectic December continues this weekend in what will be the fourth matchweek of the month. The highlight comes at the Etihad, where Manchester City will look to further enhance their status as title favorites against Tottenham.
City have enjoyed a remarkable start to the season — the best in Premier League history — racing out to an 11-point lead without having lost a match along the way. The Citizens’ were blowing teams away early on, but have shown the ability to grind out wins more recently.
They’ve also won all four of their matches against fellow big-six sides this season, beating Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea by a combined score of 11-2. If City are to be caught, Tottenham will surely have to beat them on Saturday.
Spurs have had a more difficult start to the season. They looked like title contenders for a time, but have dropped off since an injury to Toby Alderweireld and now find themselves in a race to finish in the top four.
Harry Kane remains one of the best strikers in the Premier League, and has 12 goals already, but Dele Alli has struggled, and Mauricio Pochettino’s superb defense has felt the loss of Alderweireld and, more recently, Davinson Sanchez, who is suspended.
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FanSided’s soccer staff will be competing in a weekly picks league all season. The rules are simple: three points for a correct score, one for a correct result and none for an incorrect result. Here are the picks for matchweek 18:
Manchester City are favored to beat Tottenham, with five of our writers picking the home team. But three of our writers think Spurs can end the Citizens’ winning run at 15 by earning a point. Here’s how the table stands heading into the weekend’s matches:
