Tottenham Hotspur are gearing up for a mouth-watering EFL Cup tie against Manchester City at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The north Londoners are still reeling from last weekend’s shocking 1-0 Premier League defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace in South London.
However disappointing that result was, they can’t afford to dwell on it for too long, with another difficult contest on the horizon.
Unlike their hosts, City head into Wednesday’s showdown on the back of a narrow 1-0 win over relegation contenders Southampton at the Etihad Stadium.
Erling Braut Haaland’s 11th Premier League goal inside the opening five minutes was enough to send the reigning champions to the summit, so they’ll visit Spurs with their 13-match unbeaten streak still intact.
Ending City’s unbeaten start to the season would be the perfect response to a shocking defeat in South London, but Spurs have failed to get the better of their Manchester counterparts in their last two cup meetings.
Postecoglou is expected to tweak the line-up that lost to Palace. Given the calibre of Wednesday’s opponent, the Australian will be forced to field a strong XI.
Postecoglou has lost his last two meetings with Pep Guardiola, so revenge will be on the agenda. However, his task will be more difficult in the absence of Spurs skipper Son Heung-min.
The South Korean is close to returning to full match fitness, but the north Londoners will have to find a way to hand City a dose of their own medicine without their talisman.
Timo Werner, whose long-term future at Spurs has come under intense scrutiny, is expected to fill in for Son on the left flank, while talented academy star Mikey Moore drops to the bench.
That would be one of eight changes Postecoglou could make from the side that lost to Palace last weekend, although a couple of first-team regulars should retain their spot in the XI.
Predicted Tottenham XI vs Man City:
(4-3-3): Fraser Forster; Archie Gray, Radu Dragusin, Ben Davies, Destiny Udogie; Pape Matar Sarr, Rodrigo Bentancur, James Maddison; Timo Werner, Richarlison, Brennan Johnson.
Read the full article here
Discussion about this post