Spursvs.Man City

Manchester City expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany believes that the Citizens will have a greater chance of beating Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Wednesday if Pep Guardiola does not select an "old-man midfield".

Issues with Man City's midfield have been evident ever since Ballon d'Or winner Rodri sustained a season-ending ACL injury last September, and Guardiola has called upon a number of his senior midfield options to try and fill the void in the engine room.

However, Man City's ageing midfield that includes Ilkay Gundogan (34), Kevin De Bruyne (33), Mateo Kovacic (30) and Bernardo Silva (30) have lacked the legs, energy and athleticism required to be effective at both ends of the pitch and on the transition.

The arrival of 23-year-old Nico Gonzalez has somewhat eased the burden on those players, but Guardiola still continues to regularly select at least a couple of those experienced players in his lineup when he should arguably be turning to some of his younger, more energetic options instead.

Man City suffered a 2-0 home defeat to Premier League leaders Liverpool last weekend, leaving the reigning champions fourth in the table and a staggering 20 points behind the summit.

Guardiola's side are now in a tight battle to secure a top-four finish this season and currently sit level on points with Newcastle United in fifth, while Fulham down in 10th are only five points further back with 12 league games remaining.

Man City will endeavour to return to winning ways on Wednesday night when they travel to North London to take on a Tottenham outfit who surprisingly put them to the sword 4-0 at the Etihad Stadium earlier this season.

'Play the guys who haven't been burned by Spurs before'

In recent years, Spurs have become a bogey team for the Citizens, who have come out on top against to Lilywhites in just three of their last 11 Premier League meetings, while they were also knocked out of the EFL Cup fourth round by Ange Postecoglou's side in October last year.

If Man City wish to end their 'Spurs curse' and secure three valuable points to boost their top-four hopes, McInerney believes that Guardiola needs to select a side including players who have not previously been "burned" by Spurs.

McInerney is confident that Man City can get the better of Tottenham on Wednesday, but he has encouraged Guardiola to avoid naming an "old-man midfield" and instead turn to some of his youngers players who are able to compete with Tottenham's "aggressive" midfielders.

Speaking to Sports Mole, McInerney said: "It's weird because I feel like this is the game finally where, even though Spurs have got a good reputation against City, I think City can win this, especially if we fight fire with fire, because they're such an energetic side.

"If we play the younger players again, I think they're more in tune with how Spurs play and they'll do a better job than the senior players like Bernardo and Kovacic and Gundogan.

"Play the guys who haven't been burned by Spurs before. Play the guys who aren't used to that sort of Spurs curse.

"It's bizarre that teams have this effect on you, but everyone's got that team where they just seem to get under your skin, regardless of what year it is, regardless of who's playing... Ultimately, the Spurs-City thing is a real thing.

Man City must have "runners" in their side to beat Spurs

"I'm expecting a decent performance here because I actually think against Newcastle and Liverpool we saw decent performances. Even if the result wasn't great against Liverpool, I feel it'll carry on and I'm actually quite optimistic going into this game."

McInerney added: "City have got to take [Spurs] seriously because they were one of the teams that kick-started that initial terrible run of form when they batted City at home, which never happened - that was a real shock to the system.

"I do think the best bet here (for City to win) is they once again have to play people who can run. We'd be stupid not to.

"If the old-man midfield comes out and you've got De Bruyne, Gundogan, Kovacic, Bernardo, any of those guys in there - truly brilliant footballers, but they would not be able to keep up. We have to have runners in this City side.

"That is our only chance here, because Spurs are so aggressive, such a unique side under Ange. They will look to just play boldly and bravely with their high line and aggressive runners in behind.

"We've not been great stopping runners in behind. You look at [Mohamed] Salah at the weekend (for Liverpool) against [Josko] Gvardiol - it was too easy. It's going to be a tough game, but pace and physicality I think is the only way we're going to get through it."

Meanwhile, Guardiola has delivered an update on the fitness of his squad, including striker Erling Haaland who has missed the last two matches with a knee injury.

Press play on the video at the top of this article to hear the full discussion ahead of Man City's trip to Tottenham.

Written by

Oliver Thomas