Manchester City will aim to wrestle back the top spot on the Premier League table when they travel to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to face Tottenham Hotspur in a crunch clash on Tuesday evening.
The Sky Blues briefly reclaimed the top spot courtesy of a 4-0 mauling of Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday lunchtime. They established a two-point advantage over Arsenal with their seventh successive league win and expected a favour from their noisy neighbours Manchester United on Sunday, but they failed to do so with the Gunners going to the summit with a narrow 1-0 win at Old Trafford.
Pep Guardiola’s side must bag all three points on Tuesday if they are to be in control of their title destiny on the final day of the campaign on May 19. However, the Cityzens will face a challenge at Spurs, having never won a Premier League game at their new stadium.
Manchester City Team News
Nathan Ake came off with a problem in the first half against Fulham and his participation on Tuesday looks unlikely. Jack Grealish should return to the squad from illness that kept him out of Saturday’s win at Craven Cottage.
Predicted Manchester City lineup vs Tottenham (4-1-4-1)
Goalkeeper
Ederson will be eyeing back-to-back clean sheets when Man City visit Tottenham. As the last line of defence, the Brazilian has to be at his best to help his team win and reclaim the top spot on the table.
Defence
Nathan Ake’s injury loss can be negated by recalling Kyle Walker into the starting XI and shifting Manuel Akanji to a central role. If so, Akanji will partner Ruben Dias in central defence and try to keep skipper Son Heung-min at bay.
Walker and Josko Gvardiol, who came up with two of Man City’s four goals at Fulham, will operate from the full-back positions. The duo must be aiming to make contributions at both ends of the pitch.
Midfield
Rodri remains an undisputed starter, and in such a crunch away game, his role and experience at the base of the midfield become even more vital. The Spaniard has to try and take control of the game as quickly as possible on Tuesday.
Kevin de Bruyne and Bernardo Silva should join Rodri in the Man City engine room. The onus will be on them to dictate the tempo of play, recycle possession and use their creativity to unlock the Spurs backline. Mateo Kovacic, who started the game at Fulham, is expected to drop to the bench.
Attack
Pep Guardiola may try to exploit Spurs’ left-back weaknesses by recalling the unpredictable Jeremy Doku. The Belgian international could start on the left, with Phil Foden hoping to continue his blistering form from the opposite wing.
Erling Haaland failed to score at Craven Cottage last weekend, so he will be hungry to get on the scoresheet against Spurs. Julian Alvarez, Mateo Kovacic and Jack Grealish could be involved at some point in the game.
I am Rohan Sengupta from one of the busiest cities in India, Mumbai. A Journalism graduate with a keen interest in sports, football is something I simply cannot live without and writing, discussing and analyzing the game is what I do 24*7.
