Predicted Postecoglou team line up vs City as Maddison handed start
Spurs and Manchester City will play in the FA Cup on Friday night in north London. Our Tottenham Hotspur writers at football .london have already chosen their teams.
When Tottenham and Manchester City play in the FA Cup on Friday night, Tottenham will want to keep Man City’s terrible home record going. After beating Burnley earlier this month, Spurs played the current champions in the fourth round.
The first game between these two teams this season ended in a 3-3 draw at the Etihad Stadium. This is going to be their second meeting, and goals could fly again. Pep Guardiola’s team will have to score their first goal at Spurs’ new home, though, for that to happen.
Since the stadium opened almost five years ago, City has lost all five games it has been used for, and the Manchester club has failed to score in all of those games. They will be hoping that their luck changes this time, though, because Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs play a style of football that is very offensive and have a high defense line.
In what way will Tottenham play against Man City on Friday night? Our writers at football.london who cover Tottenham Hotspur have picked out their team for the FA Cup match.
Alasdair Gold is a reporter for Tottenham Hotspur
The big choice for Postecoglou will probably depend on how fit James Maddison is after getting back to training after hurting his ankle. It’s kind of like how he decided to start Rodrigo Bentancur against Bournemouth out of the blue. It made everyone feel better all of a sudden.
It would be great if Maddison was healthy enough to play for an hour or so against Manchester City. He would give the team a huge boost, especially with his flair.
That changes who plays in the front three now that Dejan Kulusevski is healthy again and probably won’t need to play in the lower role if Maddison is ready to start. Although Timo Werner had an assist on his debut, he is not as fit as the other players, and Postecoglou will need his wingers to both defend against Pep Guardiola’s talented players and get up high on the field.
That means Brennan Johnson, who wasn’t very good at Old Trafford, might keep his spot on the team but move to the left side. Werner, on the other hand, has more experience and has had a couple more weeks to get stronger, so Postecoglou will have to make a tough choice. He now has more choices for attack.
Oliver Skipp could get another start in the middle of the field after a good all-action game against Manchester United, even though he was sick during the week.
Gold’s team: Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Skipp, Bentancur, Maddison; Kulusevski, Richarlison, Johnson.
Rob Guest – Football Writer
James Maddison will be back for Tottenham’s FA Cup fourth round match against Manchester City, which will be good for Ange Postecoglou. Maddison has been out for a long time with an injury. Since Cristian Romero and Rodrigo Bentancur came back early and played right away, you can’t say for sure that the head coach won’t do the same with the England international.
If Maddison is really healthy enough to play for an hour or more, he should start. That would really cheer up the home crowd before such an important game. As for the rest of the team, Postecoglou puts Guglielmo Vicario in goal and Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, and Destiny Udogie in the back four.
The No. 6 spot is still held by Rodrigo Bentancur, and Oliver Skipp may move into the middle of the field to play with the Uruguayan and Maddison after a great game at Old Trafford. The attacker Dejan Kulusevski then comes back, and Postecoglou has to choose between Timo Werner and Brennan Johnson to finish off the front three, which also includes Richarlison.
Werner did well on his Tottenham start and helped Bentancur score against Manchester United. He may beat Johnson, who had a bad night at The Theatre of Dreams, to play the league winners.
Guest’s team: Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Bentancur, Skipp, Maddison; Kulusevski, Richarlison, Werner.
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