Kevin de Bruyne believes it’s going to be hard work for Manchester City to break Tottenham down tomorrow.
The Premier League champions host last year’s fourth-placed finishers in a 6.30pm kickoff, with the Sky Blues off to a flying start in their bid to make it a hattrick of league titles.
But De Bruyne believes it will be tougher than ever against Spurs, who they beat home and away in the league and who knocked City out of the Champions League as they chased an unprecedented quadruple last season.
THREAT: Spurs star Kane. Photo: Frank Augstein/AP.
Buoyed by a 5-0 pak of West Ham on the opening weekend, the Belgian midfielder is full of confidence against Harry Kane and company, who beat Aston Villa 3-1.
However, De Bruyne expects a more compact Spurs at Eastlands, explaining: “Obviously teams are going to play differently, maybe even more defensively than they did, so we may have to learn how to break things down in a different way.
DEFENCE: Jan Vertonghen. Photo: Matthew Childs/Reuters.
“That’s something that will come along the way, it’s not something that you can really prepare for now.
“To improve is more individual, but as a team to do much, much better than we did in the last two years is nearly impossible.”
Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino could bring back experienced defenders Jan Vertonghen and Serge Aurier after leaving them out last week.