Tottenham have long been Manchester City’s and Pep Guardiola’s bogey time, and now the North London side also have a manager that has got the better of the Spaniard before. Thomas Frank built the blueprint to beat Manchester City when they were at their peak with his Brentford side, being the only team to beat the Cityzens at the Etihad when they were seemingly unstoppable.

Tottenham have scored against Manchester City at the Etihad in each of their last four trips to the stadium, including winning the most recent clash at City's ground by a 4-0 scoreline, a victory that was the beginning of City’s demise last season.

Tottenham will look to unsettle Manchester City with set pieces and direct balls, just as they did against PSG in the Super Cup final. I think Tottenham will get joy from these angles against a City side that isn’t the most convincing at the back at the moment. Manchester City conceded 23 goals at the Etihad last season which was the most they’ve conceded at home in a Premier League campaign for more than 10 years. 

James Trafford started in goal for Manchester City in their 4-0 win over Wolves on the opening weekend of the season, he was forced into making three saves in the game and is likely to start again here with Ederson inching closer to a move away from the club.

Trafford is an excellent shot stopper. He maintained a save percentage of 84.6% in the Championship last season which was comfortably the best in the division and also ended the season with a goals prevented tally of 12.8, also topping the league for that particular metric.

Despite their strong opening day performance, I still think that Manchester City are a bit vulnerable in moments of transition, and a better side than Wolves would have punished them for the space they allowed the Wanderers to expose in behind.

Thomas Frank’s side showed how effective they can be in the final third against PSG in the Super Cup, which was a game in which they drew three saves from Lucas Chevalier, they also drew three saves from Martin Dubravka against Burnley in the opening game of the Premier League season. Tottenham drew six saves from Ederson in the most recent meeting between the sides. 

Reijnders’ fouls won record from Serie A is a lot less promising than his fouls committed record (0.63 per 90). However, there is a reason again to believe that this should rise here against a Tottenham side that will look to be compact in the middle of the park.

Tottenham committed 12 fouls against PSG in the Super Cup and 14 fouls against Burnley on the opening day of the Premier League season. As part of Thomas Frank’s mission to make Tottenham harder to beat, it looks as though Tottenham’s foul numbers could rise this season as part of the former Brentford boss’ plan to make the Lilywhites a sterner side this term.

Reijnders was fouled twice against Wolves and will be running at a midfield that is full of fouls here, and also missing a creative spark. Reijnders will be up against:

Pape Sarr - 1.60 fouls committed p/90 (24/25 PL)
Joao Palhinha - 1.75 fouls committed p/90 (24/25 Bundesliga) 
Rodrigo Bentancur - 1.85 fouls committed p/90 (24/25 PL)

Reijnders stole the headlines on the opening weekend for his complete debut performance which was one of the most convincing introductions we’ve seen from a player at this level. As well as his brilliant contributions with the ball, Reijnders is an important player for Manchester City in stopping the threat they will face on the break.

Reijnders had five foul contributions against Wolves (three fouls won, two fouls committed) and lost more duels than any other player on the pitch (10). This eventually resulted in a yellow card for Reijnders, who contested the majority of his duels high up the pitch to ensure that Wolves could not exploit the space City left in behind when they squeezed up the pitch.

Reijnders committed 28 fouls across his 36 Serie A appearances last season (0.80 per 90), but the early signs from his performances in a City shirt are that this should rise with the role Pep Guardiola has given him in the side.

Oscar Bobb is a really exciting player and could develop into one of the most effective wide players in the league. Pep Guardiola has had an issue with his wingers for a while, he’s not completely set on players like Jeremy Doku, while Jack Grealish has been shown the exit door this summer, leaving room for a player like Bobb to emerge.

Bobb registered an assist against Wolves on the opening day of the season, robbing the ball in the centre circle and driving strongly through the middle of the park before laying the ball off to Reijnders, who finished smartly. These manufactured transitions are something we can expect to see from City often this season, with Bobb at the heart of them.

Bobb was a player who was expected to break into the first team last season, but an injury delayed his integration into the starting XI. I think there’s a real opportunity for Bobb to be a creative spark for City from the wide areas. He completed three dribbles and created two chances against Wolves, which is a small sample of what he can offer this City side going forward.

As we can expect Tottenham to line up in a low to mid block here, it makes sense to look at some of the forward players for fouls and cards. The reason for this is that these players are the most likely to actually engage with the City players, instead of the players that will be sitting a bit deeper in the block and have fewer 1v1 interactions.

Six of Tottenham’s 12 fouls they gave away against PSG were committed by the front three (Mohammed Kudus, Richarlison and Pape Sarr), and Johnson is a player that can also contribute to this. Johnson picked up five yellow cards across his 24 appearances for Tottenham last season, averaging 1.12 fouls committed per 90 in these fixtures.

He’ll be on a side of the pitch that should be full of fouls with Jeremy Doku and Rayan Ait-Nouri operating down that side. Doku averaged 1.96 fouls won per 90 in the Premier League last season, and Ait-Nouri is a very positive full back who will drag Johnson back at points. 

One really notable aspect about Thomas Frank’s Brentford side last season was how effective they were at converting chances. Brentford boasted the best shot conversion rate in the Premier League last season (15%) and also had the highest xG per shot (0.14).

Tottenham had five shots on target against PSG in the Super Cup final despite only having 29% of the ball, which shows that they are still able to get into dangerous positions even if they are not able to match City for possession numbers. They then had six shots on target against Burnley with 67% of the ball, which shows that this Tottenham side are starting to be flexible in their approach to games, instead of the constant chaotic approach that we saw under Ange Postecoglou.

City conceded three shots on target against Wolves, who looked dangerous when they were able to get in behind City’s full backs, which is no doubt an avenue that Thomas Frank will look to exploit here.