Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City

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Saturday 20th April 12.30pm
Premier League
Etihad Stadium​

So we've secured a semi-final place after something of an epic against Man City. Up next? Man City.
Teams seem to end up playing each other in cups and then facing each other again in the league quite often.
How will it affect each side's mentality? Will they still be feeling wrecked or will they be fired up and out for revenge?
Will our players have recovered sufficiently and will the manager change his approach?
It's another massive game for both sides and could have big implications for the season.

We all know how well City have done this year and it's no surprise that they're still on for a domestic treble.
Guardiola is a top manager and he's had unprecedented levels of resources to use, too.
They've claimed one piece of silverware, they're in another cup final and are in a very good position in the league.
Win their remaining games and they sweep the board in England, something which has never been done before.

The game at Wembley was somewhat spoiled by an awful, NFL disrupted pitch.
The marking were still visible and the turf was clearly the worse for wear, as both sides seemed to struggle with it.
City took an early lead through Mahrez, but the first half was fairly balanced overall.
Their quality told after the break though, as they created more and probably should've extended their lead.
A late chance to equalise fell to Lamela, but he blazed over after a bobble from the dodgy surface:

The match at The Etihad in the last campaign was one of our worst performances under Pochettino.
Gundogan gave them an early lead and they dominated throughout.
It took til the 70th minute to extend the lead, but we were never in the game during that long gap.
De Bruyne got the second, before Sterling added a third and fourth.
Eriksen's late consolation did little to rescue anything from it and our discipline went out the window, too:

Kane, Aurier and Winks all miss out, while Dier and Janssen return to training and Sissoko and Lamela are assessed.
City don't appear to have any injuries. Neither side has any suspensions.

Lineups for each side's last league game:

Spurs: Lloris; Trippier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Davies; Sissoko, Alli; Eriksen, Son, Rose; Kane.
Subs: Gazzaniga, Walker-Peters, Sanchez, Foyth, Wanyama, Winks, Moura.
League form: LLDLLW.

City: Ederson; Danilo, Stones, Laporte, Zinchenko; De Bruyne, Fernandinho, Foden; Mahrez, Jesus, Sane.
Subs: Muric, Walker, Kompany, Gundogan, B. Silva, D. Silva, Sterling.
League form: WWWWWW.

Referee: Michael Oliver.

TV: Sky Sports.

How should we approach this one and what should we do differently from the match on Wednesday?
Would you go with three or four at the back? Rotate the fullbacks or stick with the same choices?
Should Llorente start and if so, would you pick both Son and Moura or just one of them?

 

just delivering a postal vote on behalf of Spurcat ...

< Paul Stewart >

 

We won't have such a good referee for a start and it's looking like Sissoko is out. As you say this could have reactions either way but I have a feeling Spurs will heave a sigh after their landmark performance, relax and get hammered.

 

A win is unlikely, but GD is still crucial, so IMHO go with a starting XI similar to last
weekend, but 3 CBs. Go with Skipp in CM, on the explicit understanding that even
if he has an utter mare, it is no blot on his record (if he fronts up OTOH... ) .

 

We gave so much the other night that I think Poch has to make a smart decision by giving a few a rest. We definitely don't need any more injuries at the moment and I think there's a risk of that if we play a similar side to what we did on Wednesday night.

We have City Saturday, Brighton Tuesday, West Ham Saturday and Ajax Tuesday.

Realistically, even with a full strength side will we win on Saturday? Probably not. That's not a defeatist/ pessimistic attitude, just realistic. We lost the game on Wednesday but thankfully won the war and that took a **** load out of us. I can live with "throwing" the game on Saturday in order to try and get three straight home wins.

I'd go with something like:

Hugo/ Gazza
Foyth, Dave, Jan
KWP, Wanyama, Skipp, Davies
Lamela, Lucas
Llorente

I'd like to think that's solid enough not to get embarrassed in terms of a huge scoreline.

 

Wednesday will have exhausted both teams physically and mentally but City have by far the greater strength in depth. I'd like us to rotate for this game and recharge various batteries ahead of the run-in. I doubt Wanyama can manage a 3rd game in quick succession which leaves us desperately short at CM.

Gazza
KWP Foyth Dave Jan Davies
Dier Skipp
Lucas Dele
Son

 

Is Dier fit? If not why not try Foyth in CM? I know "try" is the wrong word when you're away to Citeh but we're running out of options.

 

Do you not think Wednesday will have taken a lot out of City?

 

Somebody's definitely getting the excuses in early...

 

I think the difference is that we achieved a positive result whereas they will feel robbed. That suggests their motivation will be stronger than ours especially as they have a clear target (the league) we have 3rd or 4th not so specific and leaving room for mental relaxation where it should not be. Plus simply we are struggling for players in midfield. If I was MP (and think yourself lucky I am not) I would just go gung ho attack attack attack, on the basis that City are vulnerable in defence. All or nothing, to dare is to do.

 

Agree with all that. However i think they will have burned lots of energy. Guardiola seens loathe to rotate so that may have some bearing. I am scrabbling around for hope here!

 

For sure but they're gonna have the bite to get revenge. We're still likely riding a high at the fact we've made the CL semis.

They also have a much bigger squad with quality. Mahrez, Sane, Jesus can all come into their team on Saturday and barely weaken them.

 

I want you to get thrashed in this one.
I think you will struggle.

 

So you would rather have City win the league than Liverpool?

 

Oh yes.
And there's still some hope of finishing above you in the table. Unlikely, but possible.

 

Do you think that depends on how focused Pogba is? he looked distinctly uninvolved in the Barca game almost back to his Mouriniho days.

 

He's a prima donna unfortunately.
When he's committed and uses his undoubted physical attributes to the team's advantage, he can be unstoppable.
Rumours are that he's fallen out with OGS, so he's playing like he did under Mourinho.

 

We play our strongest team against City then we rest our top players for Brighton including Son. Bring back Son for West Ham then put out the strongest possible team for Ajax.

As for tomorrow, well, will City have lifted themselves? We don't have to because morale will be high.

 

So when Fernandinho goes MMA on Son and rules him out for the remainder of the season with a concussion, will you feel really, really clever about yourself?

 

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