January recruits Marc Guéhi and Antoine Semenyo return to the beginning line-up for our away Premier League conflict at Tottenham.
Guéhi and Semenyo had been each ineligible for our 2-0 UEFA Champions League win over Galatasaray, a outcome which ensured our progress to the competitors’s Spherical of 16.
Commercial
However the pair each return to the First XI for our 16:30 (UK) conflict on the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as Pep Guardiola makes three adjustments for the sport.
Nathan Ake and Jeremy Doku each drop out for the pair, the latter lacking out fully after coming off in Wednesday’s UCL victory.
Rodri additionally comes into the staff for Omar Marmoush.
Doku, Ruben Dias, John Stones, Josko Gvardiol, Mateo Kovacic and Savinho all stay on the sidelines via harm.
Victory this afternoon would hold the strain up within the title race and transfer us simply 4 factors behind leaders, Arsenal, who beat Leeds 4-0 at Elland Highway on Saturday.
Commercial
TEAMS
CITY XI: Donnarumma, Nunes, Khusanov, Guéhi, Ait-Nouri, Rodri, Bernardo (C), O’Reilly, Semenyo, Cherki, Haaland
Subs: Trafford, Reijnders, Ake, Marmoush, Nico, Foden, McAidoo, Alleyne, Lewis
TACTICS
Gianluigi Donnarumma is between the sticks and guarded by a again 4 of Matheus Nunes, Abdukodir Khusanov, Marc Guéhi and Rayan Ait-Nouri.
Rodri can be within the anchor position, alongside captain Bernardo Silva and Nico O’Reilly within the midfield space.
Rayan Cherki and Antoine Semenyo will interchange within the areas behind hanging ace Erling Haaland.
BIG BOOST
It have to be an actual tonic for Pep Guardiola to have the ability to choose Marc Guéhi and Antoine Semenyo in his staff this afternoon.
Commercial
There have been a number of absentees in each the defensive and ahead areas of late with John Stones, Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol in addition to Jeremy Doku and Savinho on the sidelines at current.
Guéhi and Semenyo each missed out in opposition to Galatasaray as a result of they’re not but eligible to play within the UEFA Champions League so to have them again – and properly rested over the previous week – have to be a lift for the boss as he appears to be like for vitality, endeavour and excellence at the moment at Tottenham.
It’s truthful to say that it’s been good January enterprise by Metropolis to amass this vastly gifted pair.
Assistant Coach Pep Lijnders whereas legendary midfielder Patrick Vieira hailed Guéhi as aas he mentioned his former Palace centre-back this week.
Semenyo has loved a meteoric rise to develop into one of many Premier League’s most feared forwards and has scored three targets in his first 4 video games in an explosive begin to life in Manchester – with one other chalked off controversially within the Carabao Cup win at Newcastle.
Commercial
Guéhi arrived as one of the vital wanted gamers in world soccer earlier than placing in a faultless show within the on his Premier League debut for Pep Guardiola’s males.
Right here’s to extra of the identical this afternoon from the pair within the capital.
For many strikers, going virtually a month with out a aim would create a sea of self-doubt – however clearly not our talisman ahead Erling Haaland!
Haaland hadn’t discovered the web in 5 video games as he headed into the important UEFA Champions League conflict with Galatasaray.
Performed via expertly by Jeremy Doku within the opening moments of the League Part decider, Haaland discovered himself one on one with goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakır earlier than producing an impudent end of the best order chipping the Turkish stopper with the ball nestling snuggly within the web.
Commercial
It confirmed our No.9’s class and composure and likewise his confidence that would simply have been dented of late.
Pep Lijnders spoke in his pre-match press convention about Haaland and stated he was not stunned by the fab end.
“For a striker, an important factor is the subsequent ball, the subsequent second, the subsequent state of affairs.
“It’s about having this confidence that may come and we all know all his high quality about how he may be within the field, together with his toes, head, left, proper and within the scruffy targets as properly being there.
“It’s for him to maintain believing that it comes and it’s so necessary he completed it off as a result of it reveals his high quality in that state of affairs to place that ball over the goalkeeper. It was pure high quality.”
Commercial
MATCH STATS
-Tottenham have accomplished the Premier League double over Metropolis 9 instances up to now, greater than they’ve some other opponent. In the meantime, solely Chelsea (ten) have achieved so extra in opposition to the Blues.
-Metropolis have gained our final two away league video games in opposition to Spurs, final successful three in a row between February 1973 and August 1974.
-Tottenham are winless in 5 Premier League matches (D3 L2), their fourth run of 5+ winless video games within the final two seasons. They solely had 4 runs of 5 or extra winless video games throughout their earlier 12 seasons mixed from 2012/13 to 2023/24.
-Within the final two seasons, Metropolis rank sixth for factors gained away from dwelling within the Premier League (46 in 30 video games – a mean of 1.53 per sport). Within the two seasons beforehand in 2022/23 and 2023/24, Metropolis gained the joint most away factors (81 in 38 video games – 2.13 factors per sport).
Commercial
-Within the final two seasons, the one ever-present sides to select up fewer Premier League factors than Tottenham (66) are Wolves (50) and West Ham (63), with Spurs’ 31 defeats second solely to Wolves (37) in that point.
-One other defeat would imply Spurs have misplaced 10+ video games for eight consecutive seasons since 2018/19 – of their eight seasons beforehand (2010/11 – 2017/18) this solely occurred twice.
-Metropolis confronted as many photographs as we had ourselves final day trip in opposition to Wolves (11 every), the seventh time this season we’d both had fewer or as many makes an attempt as our opponents in a Premier League sport, the joint most in a season beneath Pep Guardiola. We’re solely averaging 4.7 extra photographs per sport than our opponents this season, our smallest distinction in a season beneath the Catalan.
Commercial
-Metropolis’s Pep Guardiola has misplaced extra league video games in opposition to Spurs than some other opponent in his managerial profession (8).
-Thomas Frank has gained simply 4 of his final 22 dwelling Premier League matches, with an similar file (W2 D3 L6) throughout his final 11 video games with Brentford as in his first 11 with Spurs (W4 D6 L12 total). Frank has the worst factors per sport at dwelling of any Spurs boss in Premier League historical past (0.82).
-Omar Marmoush netted his first Premier League aim of the season in Metropolis’s 2-0 win over Wolves however all eight of his targets within the competitors have been scored at dwelling – he’s failed to attain with all 20 of his makes an attempt in 12 video games away from dwelling.
-Metropolis’s Antoine Semenyo has scored 5 targets in his final eight Premier League appearances, the joint most of any participant in that timeframe (15 December onwards). A type of was a late winner in opposition to Spurs for Bournemouth in January, with solely Eric Cantona in 1992/93 (Leeds and Man Utd) and Benito Carbone in 1999/00 (Sheff Wed and Aston Villa) scoring in opposition to Spurs for 2 groups in a single season.