Image courtesy of Football365
More than two weeks after his ankle injury against Basel, Gareth Bale still may not be ready to return to action for Tottenham. This raises the question, how are Spurs going to beat Manchester City without him?
Manchester City will be jumping up and down with the news, as they and everyone else is aware Bale is one of the best players in Europe and a key element of Tottenham’s attack.
Spurs will struggle to break City down without Bale. They certainly lack the incisive edge without the Welshman, as illustrated in the draw with Everton. Although Spurs created enough chances to beat the Toffees, Tottenham weren’t clinical enough in the final third.
Without Bale, and possibly fellow wide man Aaron Lennon, Tottenham possess a rather blunt attack. Leaving them with Gylfi Sigurdsson, Clint Dempsey and Lewis Holtby in the advanced midfield positions, who are all going to have problems breaking City’s defense down.
It’s a big game this weekend. The result will have implications on the rest of the top teams in the Premier League, for sure. Whatever slim chance Manchester City have of winning the league will be annihilated if they were to lose at Tottenham. Conversely, Spurs would be really struggling to catch Arsenal and Chelsea if they were to be defeated.
With Bale fit, Tottenham would have a good chance of beating Manchester City. If the young Welshman is fit and firing, he will cause all kinds of problems. If he’s absent, Spurs will face a long battle to take the points.
