Friday’s Champions League quarter-final draw produced some potentially fascinating ties. Manchester United will face Catalan giants Barcelona, while Liverpool were handed a seemingly favourable draw against Portuguese side Porto, who the Reds beat last season on the way to the final.
However, arguably the tie of the round is Premier League rivals Tottenham and Manchester City going head-to-head. It is definitely a better draw for Pep Guardiola’s team than the team from north London.
Tottenham’s form has been poor of late
On current form, Tottenham will struggle to be much of an obstacle to City’s progression to the last four of the competition. Spurs have won just once in their last five outings in all competitions, suffering three defeats in the process. However, Tottenham did win both of their legs against German giants Dortmund in the last round of the competition, although BVB’s form has dipped of late.
The north London team has two games prior to the first leg of the quarter-final at Wembley to get back in form. However, one of those games is a trip to title challengers Liverpool, which is not usually a match that helps to restore a team’s confidence. Maybe shatter it. One thing is for sure, Tottenham have to raise their game if they are to have a chance of progressing past the reigning English champions to the last four of the competition.
Manchester City in good form
Tottenham could be facing Manchester City at a bad time, as Pep Guardiola’s side have hit form of late. The Citizens have won 17 of their last 19 matches in all competitions, suffering just one defeat in the process.
City are close to a return to the breath-taking football they played last season, scoring goals for fun and showing no mercy to opposition teams. The Citizens destroyed German side Schalke 7-0 in the second leg of the last 16. City had already recorded a 3-2 win in the first leg in Gelsenkirchen.
Tottenham are a much more disciplined team than the Bundesliga strugglers. However, they are in not in a great place to face a City team with their tails up. The north London side could have done with a slightly more favourable draw that is for sure.
Citizens big favourites to make the semi-finals
Manchester City are big favourites to progress to the last four at odds of 4/6. In fact, Pep Guardiola’s team are favourites to lift the trophy at odds of 2/ 1. Tottenham will certainly not be easy opponents for the Citizens. However, Tottenham will have to be at their best and get some luck to eliminate the reigning English champions from the Champions League.
The draw was incredibly harsh on Mauricio Pochettino’s team. They have upset the odds in the Champions League this season by pulling off a draw at Barcelona. However, that was in a meaningless game for the Catalan giants. At this present time, it is difficult to see anything other than Manchester City progressing past the north London side.
Could Tottenham have been handed a tougher draw than against Manchester City in the Champions League last eight?
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