Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City

please log in to view this image

Saturday 14th April 7.45pm
Premier League
Wembley Stadium​

Mauricio Pochettino claimed that Stoke would give us a tougher game than Chelsea and so it proved to be.
Paul Lambert's got them fighting and they didn't roll over like they did under Mark Hughes.
Another win extends our unbeaten domestic run back to December when we last faced our next opponents.
The inevitability of City's title win has loomed over the season for months, but their invulnerability has suddenly faded.
Can we be the next team to take advantage of this late season wobble?

There's no doubt that Pep Guardiola has successfully brought his brand of attacking football to the Premier League.
The League Cup's in the bag and it would take an unprecedented collapse for them not to pair it with the league.
It almost seems churlish to suggest that some of the sparkle may be rubbing off their season right now.
They've got a lot to be happy about and they've enjoyed some fantastic games while winning silverware.
So why does it feel a little anti-climactic?

There was some early season talk of quadruples and trebles, which was pretty unrealistic, if typical of the pundits.
The ex-Barca and Bayern boss still hasn't got that much experience in the Premier League and it takes time to build.
Crashing out of the FA Cup to Wigan certainly wasn't in the blueprint though and the last week or so has been tough.
Liverpool not only put them out of the Champions League, but they made it look relatively easy at times.
Having the other side of Manchester come back from 2-0 down at the Etihad to postpone title celebrations was even more painful.

City will be hurting and looking for a big response in this match.
A fourth consecutive loss to English sides would've been unthinkable at the start of the month.
They will do everything they can to avoid it and will come flying out of the traps.
We need to avoid the mistakes that we made in Manchester and maintain our current trajectory.
Our form at Wembley for the remaining games is extremely important.

The game at the Lane last season was near the start of the campaign and Guardiola had started well.
He appeared unphased by the rigours of a new country and had won his first six matches in England.
A fast start seemed to take them by surprise though, as a panicky Kolarov sliced into his own net.
Dele Alli extended the lead in the first half and even Lamela's penalty miss didn't derail the performance.
Harry Kane's absence wasn't a factor, as the match finished 2-0:

Our visit to the Etihad early this season was a disaster, frankly.
Gundogan opened the scoring quickly and we never looked like getting back into it.
Some poor tackles overshadowed the football at times, as we struggled to stay in it.
Otamendi and Fernandinho were guilty in the first half, while Alli and Kane were lucky to stay on in the second.
De Bruyne and Sterling made the scoreline more reflective of the game, as Eriksen's late consolation made it 4-1:

Danny Rose, Kyle-Walker Peters and Harry Winks miss this one through injury.
John Stones will miss out for City, while Benjamin Mendy faces a late test to see if he can return from his injury.
Fernandinho faces the first of his two match ban for accumulation of cautions.

Lineups for each side's last league game:

Spurs: Lloris; Aurier, Sanchez, Vertonghen, Rose; Wanyama, Dembele; Eriksen, Alli, Son; Kane.
Subs: Vorm, Davies, Dier, Sissoko, Lamela, Moura, Llorente.
League form: WWWWWW.

City: Ederson; Danilo, Kompany, Otamendi, Delph; Gundogan, Fernandinho, D. Silva; B. Silva, Sterling, Sane.
Subs: Bravo, Walker, Laporte, Toure, De Bruyne, Jesus, Aguero.
League form: WWWWWL.

Referee: Jonathan Moss.

TV: Sky Sports.

Fullback rotation looks like it's been enforced this time, but would you make any other changes to the side?
Is there anything that we need to do different tactically to avoid a similar result to that at the Etihad?
Does anyone's form suggest that they need to be dropped or rested?

 

Paul Stewart .

 

Poch says he hopes the fans respect Kyle Walker for this match.

I don't know, shouldn't they follow his example and give the stewards some cock and bull excuse for leaving with quarter of the match to play? City fans seem to be doing that a lot recently after all...

 

Two minutes. Slipping!

 

I'm not going to boo him or anything, but I'm certainly not clapping him, either. Shoddy way to leave.

 

He's been tipped off

 

Please keep the title "race" going for another few days

 

City can't win the league on the day, even if they win the game. It would put them 16 points clear and you'd have six games left.
You could then hand it to them on Sunday if you were to lose to West Brom, though. Can't see that happening.

 

**** that I'm booing him during team announcements and whenever he touches the ball, the money grabbing snake.

 

Hugo
Tripps, Dave, Jan, Davies
Dier, Dembele
Eriksen, Dele, Son
Kane

Let's 'ave ittt!

 

Rose is injured again?!!

We're going to have to give him away in the summer at this rate. Bloody hell.

 

Love the new Avatar mate.

 

Don't suppose Fulham would accept a swap for Sessegnon?

 

Spurs actually made it!

About a month or so ago during one of the film ceremony awards they done a play on movie posters with some players, was meant to use it back then but forgot, had a bit of spare time earlier so done some digging.

 

I think there's another user on this forum who has a film poster as his Avatar. Can't for the life of me think who

 

Real Gs have movie posters, mate.

We’re the forum’s MVPs.

 

Pre-match stuff ...

 

Fernandinho out is excellent news. He helps them control the midfield. Also means they won't be able to use him as a full back and Laporte will continue to be a lamb to the slaughter at LB. I'd play Son on that flank and have him run at him all game. Mane and Salah had so much joy up against him.

We need to be patient in this game. Don't do anything stupid and City will run out of steam. Many of their key players look exhausted. Even Kyle was struggling against Pool from the 70th minute.

 

He wasn’t doing too well in the first half of the first leg either!

Certainly need to put them under pressure and would (again) love to see Lucas let loose down that flank, at least last 20 minutes.
Keep it tight at the back, marshall KDB and Silva properly and we could get a decent result. The loss of Fernandinho will hurt them - not only from the influence he has in games, but he’s virtually ever-present, which means they will have to adapt their game.