Tottenham vs Manchester City: Carabao Cup fourth round – live | Carabao Cup

Kathleen William October 30, 2024

Important events

Where is the game? I'm sure Spurs will try to overtake City in midfield. Silky Ilkay is a great footballer, but he's not physical, and with similarly attacking partners alongside him, there will likely be space behind them to exploit. Otherwise, I expect their wingers to outplay Solanke and attack the box, as neither Ake nor Lewis are exactly natural full-backs.

Guardiola, meanwhile, picks both Nico O'Reilly and James McAtee – I'm looking forward to seeing both – and Phil Foden will play as a false nine in my opinion.

We're traveling in the Amex; Tim de Lisle follows this and the rest of the 7.45 seconds next door:

Postecoglou relies on physicality in midfield – even Kulusevski, his attacker, is an absolute brute. I'm sure we'll see Maddison at some point, but I understand why he wasn't there from the start. At the back I'm curious to see how Archie Gray does and wonder if Romero, Dragusin, Van de Ven is the most passionate trio in the league, while up front is probably the place City leaves for a reason, Timo Werner is in the XI .

I'll write them down, then we will wonder what they could mean.

As for the city, They leave out Ederson, Dias, Gvardiol, Kovacic, Bernardo and Haaland, while adding Ortega, Stones, Ake and Gündogan as well as newcomers O'Reilly and McAtee.

Postecoglou makes five changes from the team that lost at Palace. Porro, Udogie, Bissouma, Maddison and Moore slide onto the bench, Gray, Dragusin, Sarr, Bentacur and Werner join them. I'm a little surprised by this – I was expecting fewer changes – but Spurs have decent strength in depth these days so they still have a lot of quality in the side.

Teams!

Tottenham Hotspur (4-3-3): Vicario; Gray, Romero, Dragusin, Van de Ven; Sarr, Bentancur, Kulusevski; Johnson, Solanke, Werner. Subs: Forster, Porro, Davies, Udogie, Bissouma, Bergvall, Maddison, Moore, Richarlison.

Manchester City (4-3-3): Ortega; Lewis, Stones, Akanji, Ake; Gündogan, O'Reilly, Nunes; Savinho, Foden, McAtee. Subs: Ederson, Dias, Kovacic, Haaland, Bernardo, Gvardiol, Wright, Simpson-Pusey, Alfa-Ruprecht.

preamble

It feels ridiculous to say this but this is an absolutely massive game for the Tottenham hotspur football club. That cup was the last they won in 2008 and their desperation to break their spell of no will only increased after Ange Postecoglou insisted everyone should take advantage of their success in winning trophies in the second season with South Melbourne, Brisbane Roar, Yokohama F. Marinos and others recognize Celtic. As Roy Hodgson once stroked the chin: “My track record, if people bothered to study it, would put me in the same category as (Alex) Ferguson does today, but people don't talk about what I did outside England.” have done… I have an excellent track record in Sweden, Switzerland, Italy and Denmark.”

It's fair to say that Postecoglou's luster has faded in the last year or so – laconic talk and home-made self-truths can only get you far if your Spurs are impulsive and getting more impulsive. The capitulation in Brighton was exactly the sort of thing that shouldn't have happened for a year, and the weekend defeat to previously winless Crystal Palace could just as easily have happened under Christian Gross and Jacques Santini.

And yet there were signs. Guillermo Vicario, Micky van de Ven and Destiny Udogie were good signings, moving Dejan Kulusevski into midfield was a masterstroke and Mikey Moore will soon become an integral part. If Spurs play well, it will be a tough night for everyone, and they will also be fun to watch – a crucial aspect for a club that solidifies its style without substance.

Ultimately, fun and style won't keep Postecoglou in their job, winning games like this will, and that's easier said than done. It's true that Pep Guardiola will be without Rodri, Kevin de Bruyne, Kyle Walker, Jérémy Doku, Jack Grealish and Oscar Bobb, but he still has plenty of quality and the four League Cups won under his leadership show us just how difficult his Teams are beatable even if they are not at full strength, even if they draw Rochdale at home in every round. However, as Eric Clapton almost sang, they could be vulnerable tonight and even if they aren't, Spurs will pursue them as if they were.

Kick-off: 20:15 GMT