The State of Play
It cannot be denied that the mood has been enormously improved at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this season but Ange Postecoglou will be keen on adding silverware to the trophy cabinet. They enjoyed the better of a 2-2 draw with Manchester United a couple of weeks ago but that does mean they have won five, drawn two and lost five of their last 12 matches across all competitions.
Manchester City are aiming to become the first team to do a ‘double treble’ by defending their Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League trophies. Pep Guardiola’s men had a wobble in the autumn but the return of Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku is a major boost and they will be expected to go on one of their long winning streaks in the second-half of this campaign.
Read our other football news stories here:
Poch wants Chelsea to stay on goal trail
Former Tottenham owner Lewis pleads guilty to securities fraud
Postecoglou believes Maddison is returning to a stronger Spurs
Team News
Ange Postecoglou has dealt with an injury crisis in the first-half of this season but they do have players returning to training and to their squad. James Maddison remains unavailable and Son Heung-min is among those away on international duty, as well as Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr.
Ederson was forced off early on against Newcastle United a couple of weeks ago but the Brazilian is expected to return, albeit wouldn’t be a surprise if Stefan Ortega starts in the FA Cup anyway. Kevin De Bruyne should make his first start since coming back from injury but Manuel Akanji, John Stones and Erling Haaland are all expected to remain unavailable.
Expected Line-ups
Tottenham: Vicario; Pedro Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Bentancur, Hojbjerg, Skipp; Johnson, Richarlison, Werner
Manchester City: Ederson; Walker, Dias, Ake, Gvardiol; Rodri, Kovacic; Foden, De Bruyne, Silva; Alvarez
What they Said
Ange Postecoglou has confirmed that James Maddison is now back and ‘available to start’. He has also said that “Kulusevski has recovered. Gio Lo Celso, Manor Solomon and Alejo are the only ones still away from it.”
Pep Guardiola commented on Manchester City’s current winless record at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. “It’s a final and it’s tough at Spurs. We have played well there, but not scored there yet. They have been better than us so far…”
When and How to Watch
This game takes place at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Friday January 26th at 20:00 and will be shown live on ITV and can be streamed live on the ITVX app.
Prediction
Tottenham Hotspur have been entertaining to watch so far this season and the best example of that arguably came in the game between these two sides at the Etihad Stadium in November. That 3-3 draw saw Manchester City waste a lot of chances but Spurs continue to play their way on the front foot. This one should well be another high-scoring and entertaining encounter with both teams scoring on the night also seeming quite likely.
