Tottenham’s clash with Manchester City later today could have a profound impact on how the rest of the seasons pans out. Following Arsenal’s defeat at Everton on Saturday, Pep Guardiola’s champions could close the gap to just two points with a victory, while Spurs could take advantage of Newcastle’s failure to win against West Ham.
Three points for Antonio Conte’s side would see them move to just a point off the top four, putting them in major contention. Spurs, of course, boast a strong record against today’s opposition too, with City yet to score at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Pedro Porro is made to wait for his debut, as he is named among the substitutes.
Guardiola’s team tend to struggle on their trips to this particular part of north London, and it’s another interesting team selection. Julian Alvarez partners Erling Haaland up front, with Kevin De Bruyne on the bench. Follow all of the action with Standard Sport’s dedicated match blog. Dan Kilpatrick will be providing expert analysis from the ground!
Live updates
6 mins: Great block!
Good spell of City pressure, they win another corner and it’s headed out to Alvarez on the edge of the box. Catches the volley sweetly but it’s blocked.
He then stops the Spurs counter pretty cynically, does well to avoid a yellow card.
5 mins: First corner of the match, and it will be for City. Space opened up for Mahrez on his left foot, looks to whip it towards the far corner and the ball takes a flick on its way behind.
Bit of a mess in the middle from the set-piece, Ake nods it back into the six-yard box. Haaland among those challenging for it, eventually falls into Lloris’ grateful arms.
3 mins: Bright start from Emerson too on the right, bursting down the wing and he’s too strong for Lewis.
Looks to play the ball in, Lewis does well to stick with him and block the cross. Emerson keen to put on a show with new man Porro on the bench…
2 mins: That’s more like it from Son, haven’t seen that at all this season really.
Picks the ball up deep in his own half and just runs with it, into the City half and towards the edge of the box as he strides away from the defenders. Grealish tracks the run brilliantly and pokes the ball away.
KICK-OFF!
We’re up and running in north London!
Tottenham’s defence has been a huge problem in recent weeks, conceding so many goals.
Need to tighten up here and make a good start, can’t keep chasing games. If they can do both of those things… it’s game on!
Here we go!
Teams in the tunnel, they’ll be out onto the pitch very shortly.
Huge match for both sides. Tottenham looking to take advantage of Newcastle dropping points in the battle for Champions League football, while Man City can close the gap to Arsenal.
Plenty on the line!
Pep to spring a surprise?
Plenty of talk about how City will line-up at the back. On paper it’s a back four with Walker at right-back and Lewis on the opposite flank.
But that could well turn into a back three as Lewis moves into midfield, as he’s done so well in recent weeks.
Very flexible shape, but they’ve been warming up as a conventional back four.
Pre-match thoughts from Guardiola
Pep Guardiola had very little interest in discussing Arsenal’s defeat to Everton in his pre-match comments!
“We’re more focused on what we have to do here than yesterday,” the City boss said.
“Nothing has changed, we have to do our job. All day I was thinking about what we have to do today.”
He also confirmed that De Bruyne is on the bench for tactical reasons, while Foden was ill last night and misses out on the squad as a result.
