Spurs Match Preview

I Don’t Like Mondays

Its difficult to get too excited about a Monday evening match in London. This is clearly a game for people who watch on TV rather than travel to matches, although at least I guess it may give a welcome opportunity to see our side for any exiled Blues based in the south of England. Travel to the Capital City is both expensive and hard work from Northern England, compounded further still when like this, the game is rearranged. The fact these costs are borne by match going fans rankles – I know Man City have done the decent thing and offered free coach travel to the match but that doesn’t help those fans who have already paid out and incurred other costs such as hotels. Football without fans is nothing.

Putting aside my bitterness for just one moment its time to look towards the match itself. Guardiola finds himself with pretty much a full first team squad available for selection. Danilo has returned to full training. Delph is back in full training. Kevin de Bruyne is 2 matches into his return. As it stands the only notable absence is Ilkay Gundogan.

Having a plethora of options means Guardiola now has to keep the intensity level of players high as he rotates his squad and keeps up their hunger and determination. It is this which has featured large in his successful attempts to become serial title winners both at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

Guardiola has spoken at length about how he tries to push his team harder by requiring ever more of them and not being afraid to single players out for “special messages”. We have seen these text book Guardiola management tactics employed so far this season to great effect – Sane, Sterling et al have bounced back, hungry and lean.

In the pre match press briefing Guardiola challenged those players not selected to earn their right to play. Given the stellar names likely to be starting the next few games on the bench, during a flurry of squad rotation, this is a key message. How much the players respond will be clear within minutes of the kick off on Monday. Will this be the game where Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville smugly dissect our dour result or have to praise us through gritted teeth on Monday Night Football on Sky?

I think from what we have seen so far, it will be the latter, despite how much they both hope and want City to fail.

Tottenham will come hard and fast at us and attempt to disrupt our play with a high press. The secret will be how quickly we break the press and exert control. Last time we played Spurs once we were in control they became petulant and attempted to thwart the game through foul means. I expect this pattern to be repeated on Monday.

Accordingly I suspect picking our midfield will be the key to winning this game. So I suspect De Bruyne and Bernardo to start centrally, with Fernandinho behind. Attack will be Aguero flanked by Sane and Sterling. Defence will see Stones and Laporte supported by Mendy and Walker. Ederson will hopefully be bored in goal.

I believe we will take this game to Tottenham in the first minutes and will challenge Spurs to alter their game to defend against us. If they do so I feel they will potentially quick quickly find themselves a few goals behind. Harry Kane and his goal hanging in a high press may cause us some problems, but I hope this is a game where we simply plan to outscore anyone else and view any goals conceded as simply water off a ducks back, un-ruffling our game plan.

If City do manage to come away from Wembley with a result we may be on course to become a very special team indeed – potentially eclipsing the achievements of last season. This game is pivotal to that and i would expect our victory to be celebrated like the Chelsea away game last season.

Predicted Starting IX

Goalkeeper : Ederson

Defence: Walker, Stones, Laporte, Mendy

Midfield: Fernandinho, De Bruyne, Bernardo

Attack: Sane, Sterling, Aguero