Tottenham Hotspur will make the trip to league leaders Manchester City on Saturday as they look to bounce back after their FA Cup exit. How will the team fitness and availability situation affect the lineup selection for Jose Mourinho?
Spurs were a bit unlucky to lose to Everton in extra-time and they will be raring to go at the weekend. They are rapidly losing ground in the league and they need to start winning, and soon. It will not be easy against a team that is literally on a record setting winning streak.
Tottenham Hotspur at Manchester City FYIs
Kickoff: Sat, Feb 13, 5:30pm GMT, City of Manchester Stadium
Team News: Manchester City Tottenham Hotspur
Starting XI Predictions: Manchester City Tottenham Hotspur
PL Form Guide: Manchester City WWWWW Tottenham Hotspur WLLLW
PL Position: Manchester City 1st, 50 points Tottenham Hotspur 8th, 36 points
There are a few injury problems for the North Londoners to contend with. Left back Reguilon is out for a couple more weeks. Gareth Bale who wasn’t part of the squad on Wednesday, due to a really mysterious and strange situation. He’s a doubt for Saturday’s game.
The other major absentee is Argentine midfielder Giovani Lo Celso, who got injured in December. He is expected to be out for a couple more weeks as well, adding to the selection woes for the manager. There is also a doubt over the fitness of defender Serge Aurier, who didn’t play any part on Wednesday.
Though it is not a major issue, it is unknown when he will return. Spurs must not be too harsh on themselves for exiting the FA Cup competition. The 5-4 loss to Everton was a game that could have gone either way and there were a lot of positives to take from it.
One of them was how dangerous they looked, even when Harry Kane was not on the pitch.
If they play the same way, they have a real chance of scoring against City. Defensive solidity will be needed as they will be facing a team that has a brilliant attack. They must look at the last meeting between these two teams for a blueprint on how to defeat Pep Guardiola’s men.
There is more than enough quality in this Tottenham team to get something from this game. The midweek loss must serve as motivation for them to come back in a stronger manner.
They have players who pose a real threat to the Manchester City defence.
Kane and Heung-min Son will be looking to take advantage of any chance that they get. It will be a tough match on Saturday, but if Jose Mourinho can make these guys believe in themselves (and motivation has been a big issue for them this season), anything is possible.