Man City are looking to achieve the impossible by defending their treble and in that quest, they will face Tottenham Hotspur in the 4th round of the FA Cup on Friday night.
Manchester City have been in top form recently, winning their previous nine matches but quite surprisingly, they have won just once in their last four meeting against Spurs. The last time these two sides met was back in December when they played out a gripping 3-3 draw at the Etihad Stadium.
Man City will head to North London this time to take on Ange Postecoglou’s team and based on recent form, the Cityzens are very much the favourites to progress to the next round. However, Tottenham have been a very resilient side this season so this one’s surely going to be a very balanced and well contested match.
Manchester City’s team news and injuries:
Man City have received the biggest boost this season with the return of Kevin de Bruyne and the attacking midfielder made an instant impact, coming off the bench in the Newcastle United game.
De Bruyne’s return means Bernardo Silva will return to the right wing leaving, Phil Foden, Jeremy Doku and Jack Grealish to fight over the left winger’s position.
Doku did not have the best of games vs the Magpies so Jack Grealish or Foden is likely to feature on the left-hand side.
Ederson was forced off at St James’ Park due to a gash but the Man City manager has revealed that the keeper is okay and will be available for selection. However, Stefan Ortega has started in City’s recent FA Cup matches so it will be interesting to see if Guardiola brings in Ederson simply cause they will be playing against Tottenham.
John Stones has returned to full fitness and he will be in contention to start on Friday but Manuel Akanji and Erling Haaland will both miss out. Haaland has been missing from action since suffering a foot injury against Aston Villa at the beginning of December.
“He’s on the verge of coming back,” the Man City manager has told the press regarding Haaland’s fitness. “Tomorrow, still he is not ready but he is close.
“Some training sessions he has trained in the last two days. It’s not perfect so we wait a little bit more.”
Man City predicted line up vs Tottenham:
Predicted Starting XI(4-2-3-1): Ederson/Ortega; Walker, Ruben Dias, Ake, Gvardiol; Kovacic/Stones, Rodri; B. Silva, De Bruyne, Grealish/Foden; Alvarez.
