Tom Carnduff previews the Super Sunday clash between Tottenham and Manchester City with two best bets backed.
Football betting tips: Super Sunday
1pt Dele Alli to have 3+ tackles at 9/4 (Sky Bet)
1pt Oliver Skipp to be carded at 7/2 (General)
Manchester City's title defence begins on the road in North London as they face a Tottenham team under new guidance in Nuno Espirito Santo.
It's not the first time these two clubs have been paired together with the gossip pages in full flow across the summer. The ongoing saga with Harry Kane continues - Spurs are adamant he's not for sale while City are reportedly confident of a big-money move for the striker before the window reaches its conclusion.
Kane's involvement is unlikely here given his absence from pre-season training. It may suit Spurs more as they aim for a potential counter attacking style - the pace of Son Heung-min could be the preferred option up front.
While Jose Mourinho's side beat City in this meeting last season, it should be a different outcome on opening weekend as a strong City side aim to begin their campaign in perfect fashion - they should justify the odds-on price for success.
Kick-off time: 16:30 BST, Sunday
TV channel: Sky Sports Main Event
Tottenham 9/2 | Draw 3/1 | Man City 3/5
City will be shorter than even money in almost every game they are involved in this season. Even during rare rough patches they will enter as favourites and Pep Guardiola's side appear an almost unstoppable machine at times. From back to front, there is talent in every single position and the spending power available can push them well clear of the chasing pack.
Jack Grealish arrived from Aston Villa for a record £100m fee and any deal for Kane will likely be priced around the £150m mark. The former should be involved from the start while questions will be asked of who Guardiola is planning on playing in the striker or centre-forward role - Alex Keble's excellent tactical piece looks at this and more which can be read here.
On the Tottenham side of things, we can expect Dele Alli to start given his pre-season involvement and the defensive requirements could see his tackle count rise in this game. At 9/4, it's worth taking ALLI TO HAVE 3+ TACKLES.
A point of interest is how Wolves 'won' the tackle count in three of Nuno's previous four meetings against Manchester City. They had a huge 25 when beaten at home at the beginning of last season and we could expect somewhere just shy of the 20 mark this time around.
While Alli will be in the attacking midfield area, the requirement to drop deeper when out of possession should force him into making a few tackles. This is a player who has hit a decent tackle tally during his time at Tottenham - every single Premier League season has seen an average of above 1.0 per game.
Another player who has seen plenty of pre-season minutes and should be given a start here - alongside featuring regularly across the course of the season - is Oliver Skipp. The defensive midfielder enjoyed plenty of football during the 2020/21 campaign as he played in 45 games of Norwich's successful Sky Bet Championship campaign.
His loan spell there has seemingly done big things for his first team chances and he is likely to line up alongside Pierre-Emile Højbjerg in the two defensive midfield positions. At a general price of 7/2, we're taking SKIPP TO BE CARDED. He was shown seven yellows during his spell in England's second tier.
Anthony Taylor is refereeing and his 2.78 cards per Premier League game average last season has created some hesitancy to putting together a card double. However, there should still be a couple and Skipp is among the leading contenders. Taylor did tend to go above average when refereeing top-six or 'big-six' games in 2020/21.
Tottenham v Manchester City best bets and score prediction
- 1pt Dele Alli to have 3+ tackles at 9/4 (Sky Bet)
- 1pt Oliver Skipp to be carded at 7/2 (General)
Score prediction: Tottenham 0-2 Manchester City (Sky Bet odds: 13/2)
Odds correct at 1200 BST (13/08/21)
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