Key events
4 min Gundogan finds Foden down the left, whose low cross is dangerous, but with no centre-forward in the side and the nominal one hitting the cross, it’s no surpriser to see the ball scoosh all the way across the box, unmolested.
2 min Talking of Solanke, I’m suspicious. He was excellent last season, but when you’ve so many season that were significantly less than, it’s hard to justify paying what Spurs did. Anyhow, good work from Gray wins the ball high, then Kulusevski muscles around Gundogan, breaks into the box and goes down; he wants a penalty but nothing doing.
1 min Immediately, Kulusevski is on the ball, feeding Solanke, but City crowd him out.
1 min Aaaand away we go!
Late change for City: Akanji has hurt himself, so Dias replaces him in the middle of the City defence.
More goals: Alejandro Garnacho has just put Mna United 2-0 up against Leicester – Van Nistelrooy in! – while an own goal from Disasi means Chelsea trail Newcastle 2-0.
Here come our teams…
You’ve gotta laugh. Eze has gone off injured at Villa Park, where of course Jhon Duran has equalised; Gabriel Jesus has put Arsenal ahead at Preston; and at St James’ Park, Alexander Isak has given Newcastle the lead against Chelsea.
I guess we’re in for another Spurs situation at Everton. Goodison Park is another favourite ground at which you can feel the history, and however good the sightlines are at the new place, I’m not sure how you manufacture personality. Which, as we know, goes a long way.
“Living nearby to Tottenham’s stadium,” writes Andy Flintoff, “I can tell you it looks mighty impressive looming above the street from the High Road, but thanks to one end being flatter than the other, so it’s not perfectly elliptical, it looks so much like a toilet seat from the air that it’s difficult not to see it that way.”
I know what you mean, and it also looks like a rarely-seen part of one’s anatomy.
Goals! Eberechi Eze’s fine header has put Palace in front at Villa, while Casemiro has just spanked a jazzer into the top corner so Man United lead Leicester 1-0.
Email! “Spurs’ ground is great,” says Daniel B. “Journey to get there is terrible. Any news of a delayed kick-off yet?”
I cannot tell you how little I want to hear that; lozz those who played for a ticket, save those liveblogging. And tangentially, I love the fact that when she came to the UK, Beyoncé chose to perform in Tottenham.
Ange Postecoglou said earlier in the week that he wasn’t looking for a reaction he was looking to see his principles; asked what they are, he tells Sky that after 15 months he thinks people are pretty clear on them, thus avoiding their enumeration. And that’s the most he gives away.
Guardiola tells Sky that his squad can handle having 14 players for a few weeks but not over a long period, and notes that he’s had trouble with Spurs, recalling his first game against them when Mauricio Pochettino’s side absolutely monstered City. This is a very different outfit, though, one relying more on moments than energy.
McAtee won’t say what his instructions are beyond play with freedom, which sort of feels like the opposite of Guardiolisme. Either way, though, he’ll know this is a chance for him, because none of his rivals for the wide berths have impressed enough to nail down a spot.
How do we rate the Spurs ground? I quite like it, I’d say; I loved White Hart Lane, which had character, but they’ve done a fairly good job of the new place, though the upper-tier seats down the sides feel a long way from the pitch.
As for City, I’m sure they’ll target Gray, a midfielder who can play right-back, and Van de Ven, a centre-abck who can play left-back. Otherwise, they’ll look for Foden’s elusiveness, speed and power-shooting to discomfit Dragusin and Romero, and of course they’ll look to limit Spurs’ ability to attack by monopolising the ball – the classic Guardiola strategy.
Where is the game? Spurs, I’m certain, will be looking to run over City in midfield. Silky Ilkay is a beautiful footballer but physical he is not, and with similarly attack-minded partners alongside him, there’ll probably be space to exploit behind them. Otherwise, I expect their wingers to play off Solanke and attack the box, given neither Ake nor Lewis are exactly natural full-backs.
Guardiola, meanwhile, selects both Nico O’Reilly and James McAtee – I’m looking forward to watching both – and Phil Foden will, I think, play as a false nine.
We’re under way at the Amex; Tim de Lisle is following that and rest of the 7.45s next door:
Postecoglou has gone for physicality in midfield – even Kulusevski, his attacker, is an absolute brute. I’m sure that we’ll see Maddison at some point, but I can see why he’s not been included from the start. At the back, I’m intrigued to see how Archie Gray gets on, and wondering whether Romero, Dragusin, Van de Ven is the ardest trio in the league, while up front, I guess the space City leave in behind in one reason Timo Werner is in the XI.
I’ll write those down, then we’ll wonder what they might mean.
As for City, they leave out Ederson, Dias, Gvardiol, Kovacic, Bernardo and Haaland, with Ortega, Stones, Ake and Gundogan, plus the rookies O’Reilly and McAtee, coming in.
Postecoglou makes five changes to the team that lost at Palace. Porro, Udogie, Bissouma, Maddison and Moore drop top the bench, with Gray, Dragusin, Sarr, Bentacur and Werner coming in. I’m a little surprised at that – I expected fewer changes – but Spurs have reasonable strength in depth these days, so they’ve still plenty 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; Gundogan, O’Reilly, Nunes; Savinho, Foden, McAtee. Subs: Ederson, Dias, Kovacic, Haaland, Bernardo, Gvardiol, Wright, Simpson-Pusey, Alfa-Ruprecht.
Preamble
It feels ridiculous to say so, but this is an absolutely gargantuan match for Tottenhamhotspurfootballclub. This cup was the last one they won, in 2008, and their desperation to break their spell without will only have increased following Ange Postecoglou’s insistence everyone recognise his success in winning second-season trophies with South Melbourne, Brisbane Roar, Yokohama F. Marinos and Celtic. As Roy Hodgson once chin-stroked, “My track record, if people bothered to study it, would put me in the same category as [Alex] Ferguson enjoys today, but people don’t talk about what I’ve done outside England … I’ve got an excellent track record in Sweden, Switzerland, Italy and in Denmark.”
It’s fair to say that Postecoglou’s lustre has dulled over the last year or so – laconic larrikining and homespun hometruths can only take you so far when your Spurs are spursy and getting spursier. The capitulation at Brighton was exactly what shouldn’t be seen a year-odd in, and the weekend loss to previously winless Crystal Palace could just as easily have happened under Christian Gross and Jacques Santini.
And yet there’ve been signs. Guillermo Vicario, Micky van de Ven and Destiny Udogie were fine signings, moving Dejan Kulusevski into midfield was a masterstroke, and it will soon be impossible to omit Mikey Moore. If Spurs play well, they’re a hard night for anyone and they’re also fun to watch – a crucial aspect for a club that reifies style in the absence of substance.
In the end, though, fun and style won’t keep Postecoglou in a job, winning games like this one will, and that’s easier said than done. It’s true that Pep Guardiola is without Rodri, Kevin de Bruyne, Kyle Walker, Jérémy Doku, Jack Grealish, Oscar Bobb, but he has plenty of quality available nevertheless, and the four League Cups won under his command tell us how difficult his teams are to beat even when not at full strength, even if they seem to draw Rochdale at home in every round. However they might, as Eric Clapton almost sung, be vulnerable tonight, and even if they’re not, Spurs will get after them as though they are.
Kick-off: 8.15pm GMT
