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An email from Spurs fan SF Devereux:
As well as those eight you mentioned (Maddison, Kulusevski, Kudus, van de Ven, Bentancur, Bergvall, Porro and Davies), we’re also without Richarlison, Kevin Danso, Djed Spence and Wilson Odobert. We just need a goalkeeper to go down injured today and we’ll have a pretty competitive, tactically balanced XI missing, with a couple of options available to come off the bench.
(Odobert is on the bench today, so presumably he’s at least semi-fit).
“We are hit pretty hard by injuries… but it’s part of the game, we have to find solutions,” says Frank on Sky. He reveals Kevin Danso sustained a toe injury just before this game, which added his name to the list of absentees.
“Even with the injuries there are signs we’re going in the right direction. But we need a spell of consistent results.”
Spurs have won seven from 23 in the league this season; they won five of their eight Champions League group games.
Pep Guardiola is in good spirits during his pre-match chat with Sky Sports. He praises Arsenal as formidable leaders in the title race but says City still have “hope”. A win today would close the gap to four points again, so you have more than just hope, Josep.
The 2pm games are all now complete – and there was some ridiculous stoppage-time drama at Old Trafford:
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Aston Villa 0-1 Brentford
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Manchester United 3-2 Fulham
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Nottingham Forest 1-1 Crystal Palace
That Brentford victory came with 10 men, too, that’s some blow for Villa playing at home. City will see that result as a boost to their title hopes; I think it pretty much leaves two teams in the race for the league championship.
This is what Thomas Frank said about Spurs’s January pursuit of Antoine Semenyo:
The club worked relentlessly to try and improve the squad, we can’t be too obsessed with short-term fixes. I will go against my rule, hopefully only once, that there’s no doubt the club wanted to sign Semenyo.
He’s definitely going to score today, isn’t he?
Pep has formed part of a football dynasty at the Etihad, of course. Take the current women’s team, managed by Andrée Jeglertz, who are marching towards the WSL title, currently hammering perennial champions Chelsea.
Here’s live coverage of the latter stages of that one.
Pep Guardiola has been Manchester City manager for more than a decade. Some stint. Here’s Rob Draper on the day English football changed forever.
That Spurs bench tells its own story. Thomas Frank has been beset by injuries for the bulk of the season. He’s without Maddison, Kulusevski, Kudus, Van de Ven, Bentancur, Bergvall, Porro and Davies today – and that’s just off the top of my head.
Archie Gray at right-back certainly has a job on his hands to contain Antoine Semenyo, who Spurs tried to sign earlier in the window. The former Bournemouth man has been electric sign he joined City, slotting straight into Pep Guardiola’s preferred XI.
Against a Spurs defence that has looked vulnerable to say the least of late, he will surely be licking his lips.
Team news
Tottenham: Vicario; Gray, Romero, Dragusin, Udogie; Palhinha, Bissouma, Gallagher; Kolo Muani, Solanke, Simons.
Subs: Kinsky, Tel, Odobert, Sarr, Souza, Olusesi, Kyerematen, Byfield, Rowswell.
Manchester City: Donnarumma; Nunes, Khusanov, Guéhi, Aït-Nouri; Rodri, O’Reilly, Bernardo Silva; Cherki, Haaland, Semenyo.
Subs: Trafford, Reijnders, Aké, Marmoush, González, Foden, McAidoo, Alleyne, Lewis.
Preamble
Welcome along to this the headline fixture of the Premier League weekend. Out-of-form Tottenham welcome title-challenging Manchester City in a game fans of both teams may well want City to win, given Spurs supporters’ preference to see Arsenal bottle fail to win the title.
There will be no such thoughts from Thomas Frank of course. The former Brentford coach desperately needs some league wins to go with his team’s positive Champions League campaign and, despite City’s lofty league standing, can have some hope of a decent result given this fixture’s recent history. Tottenham have won three of their last four games against Pep Guardiola’s side and eight of the last 15 dating back to 2020. People talk about Dr Tottenham but maybe City simply develop a strong case of Cityitis whenever they face Spurs.
It all gets under way at 4.30pm (GMT) at the the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Join us for team news and updates next, before match updates of course.
