Manchester City vs Tottenham Hotspur preview: Guardiola has fully fit squad to select from

By Ric Turner, Wed 18 January 2023 16:50


Manchester City vs Tottenham Hotspur preview: Guardiola has fully fit squad to select fromStones and Dias return to training, whilst boss confirms that De Bruyne is available

Manchester City vs Tottenham Hotspur

Competition: F.A. Premier League

Date: 8.00pm, Thursday 19th January 2023

Venue: Etihad Stadium, Manchester

Referee: Simon Hooper Assistants: A Holmes, T Wood Fourth Official: D Coote VAR: D England

Odds: Man City 1/3, Draw 4/1, Spurs 7/1

Tickets: On sale via mancity.com

TV: Sky Sports

Manchester City

Manager: Pep Guardiola

Squad (from): Ederson, Ortega, Carson, Walker, Dias, Stones, Ake, Cancelo, Laporte, Akanji, Gomez, Lewis, Phillips, Gundogan, Grealish, Rodri, De Bruyne, Silva, Foden, Palmer, Haaland, Alvarez, Mahrez

Injured: None

Doubtful: Dias

Suspended: None

Form guide: LWDWW

Tottenham Hotspur

Manager: Antonio Conte

Squad (from): Lloris, Forster, Austin, Doherty, Sanchez, Royal, Dier, Romero, Spence, Tanganga, Davies, Lenglet, Skipp, Hojberg, Perisic, Sessegnon, Kulusevski, Sarr, Bentancur, Bissouma, Son, Richarlison, Kane, Gil, Alonso

Injured: Moura

Doubtful: Bentancur

Suspended: None

Form guide: DLWWL

John Stones and Ruben Dias return to the squad after missing the derby defeat at Old Trafford though injury. Kevin De Bruyne, meanwhile, is available despite reports that he hadn't trained yesterday. It means manager Pep Guardiola has a fully fit squad to choose from for the visit of Spurs.

At Wednesday's press conference Guardiola said: “[De Bruyne] had a personal issue and was not training. Today he is back.

“They (Stones and Dias) are back. In the last two training sessions they have trained really well and they are in contention.

“We will train this afternoon. We will see the way we have to play and who is going to play.”

“It’s not about what happened against United. It’s not about the table. It’s about Spurs. Always they have been a tough opponent for us," Guardiola stressed.

"For the quality all the years and this year is not an exception. Of course the important thing is to win the game."

City lost their last game against Spurs at The Etihad 3-2, with goals from Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez. Overall City have won 65 of the 166 games played against Tottenham, with 36 draws and 65 defeats.

Predicted line-up: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Laporte, Ake, Rodri, Gundoga, De Bruyne, Foden, Grealish, Haaland

Score prediction: City 2 Spurs 2