Spurs vs Manchester City Preview

League Cup Round of 16

Manchester City heads into the next round of the League Cup, a competition that they once dominated but now becomes a huge opportunity for players further down the pecking order to get minutes. Where the likes of James McAtee and Nico O’Reilly could stand out. Heading into a period of four tough away matches, playing every three days, the team will need to be ruthless in front of goal against teams that are all capable of scoring a couple.

Previous Results

• Manchester City has won all three matches since returning from the International break, beating Wolves (1-2), Sparta Praha (5-0), and Southampton (1-0).

• Spurs have won two and lost one match since returning from the International break. They beat West Ham (4-1) and AZ Alkmaar (1-0), but they lost to Crystal Palace (1-0) last weekend.

Notable Injuries:

• Manchester City is without Rodri, Oscar Bobb, Jeremy Doku, Jack Grealish, Kyle Walker, and Kevin De Bruyne.

• Spurs are set to be without Wilson Odobert. Djed Spence has resumed training, and Heung-Min Son is most likely to return at the weekend, with the League Cup match coming too soon for him.

Interesting Spurs Stats:

• Only Manchester City (20) and Chelsea (19) have scored more goals in the Premier League than Spurs (18).

• Spurs are second in the Premier League for xG created (17.69), shots (156), and shots on target (58).

• No team has scored more fast-break goals in the Premier League than Spurs (7), with the nearest team Chelsea only scoring four.

On the weekend Spurs host Aston Villa in the Premier League, a match in my opinion they cannot afford to lose after they lost to Crystal Palace. So the amount of rotation in this match could well be the same amount we’d expect from Manchester City. In the Europa League Spurs have rotated the team a lot. Below is the 11 against Coventry in the last round, some key players are still involved but mostly rotated.

Regardless of the team, the principles of play remain the same from Spurs and I’d expect to see this same space between the two central defenders Jon Mackenzie points out below. Savinho, Nunes, and some of the academy players who could be selected on the wing will get opportunities in transition if City plays those passes quickly into the space outside the CBs since the FBs are committed to playing further ahead.

Spurs have been caught out a few times this season when overloaded at the back post. Something that you might see City target either from a set-piece or set up low crosses for in open play.

The common theme around their matches is how Spurs used their full-backs and how the opposition dealt with it. Pushing Porro and Udogie further forward to attack half-spaces in the final third, look for the underlapping runs and be in position for a cutback. Using them almost like inside forwards in the buildup which will bring the opposition into the middle to open up a pass into the wingers 1v1.

In this regard, I think we’ll see something similar from Manchester City that we saw against Southampton, a willingness at times to be patient, as long as they are pressing the opposition high up the pitch, waiting to jump on a turnover. The goalkeeper will form a three with the CBs just like Ramsdale did.

Spurs take advantage of long switches of play when they can find their winger and attacking midfielder 2v1 and their attackers are usually excellent at getting just in front of the defender when a ball comes into the box. That’s why Johnson has been on a great run scoring goals. He’s always first to the low cross into the 6-yard box.

Looking at the quote from Guardiola, don’t be surprised to see those half-time changes he makes be solely due to rotation for Bournemouth at the weekend. Last season when Newcastle beat Manchester City 1-0 in the League Cup, Guardiola had the players there to change if he wanted to win the match, it’s 0-0 at half-time and instead, he left Haaland on the bench, and did not bring Foden on until the 73rd minute.

The U21s played last night in the EFL Trophy beating Grimsby Town on penalties and four players were not in the squad that usually are. Nico O’Reilly, Jacob Wright, Simpson-Pusey, and Alfa-Ruprecht. Likely that we’ll see O’Reilly start the match and the other three involved this evening by at least making the bench.

Final Predictions

Ones to Watch: 

Mikey Moore is spoken about as one of the most exciting English talents of his age and coming through Spurs academy right now. In the compilation below you’ll see just how well he did against AZ in the second half 1v1 to eventually get into the box and create chances. Likely he starts tonight.

James McAtee has shown glimpses of his talent coming on in the Champions League, looked good starting against Watford in the League Cup but with the level of injuries in the team, this is a real opportunity for him to stand out for the four away matches ahead.

Predicted Lineup:

Predicted Score: Spurs 0-1 Manchester City

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