Tottenham vs Manchester City: Carabao Cup fourth round – live | Carabao Cup

Guardiola tells Sky that his squad can cope with 14 players for a few weeks but not for a long period of time, and notes that he struggled against Spurs, recalling his first game against them when Mauricio Pochettino's City side were completely out of their depth overwhelmed. However, this is a very different outfit that relies more on moments than energy.

McAtee won't say what his instructions go beyond playing with freedom. which somehow feels like the opposite of Guardiolisme. Either way, he'll know this is a chance for him because none of his competitors for the big spots have impressed enough to secure a spot.

How do we rate Spurs' ground? I like it quite a bit, I would say; I liked White Hart Lane, which had character, but they've designed the new ground pretty well, although the seats in the upper tiers on the sides feel a long way from the pitch.

As for the city, I'm sure they will target Gray, a midfielder who can play at right-back, and Van de Ven, a central defender who can play at left-back. Otherwise, they will rely on Foden's volatility, speed and shooting power to unsettle Dragusin and Romero, and of course they will try to limit Spurs' attacking ability by monopolizing the ball – the classic Guardiola strategy.

Where is the game? I'm sure Spurs will try to overtake City in midfield. Silky Ilkay is a great footballer, but he's not physical, and with similarly attacking partners alongside him, there will likely be space behind them to exploit. Otherwise, I expect their wingers to outplay Solanke and attack the box, as neither Ake nor Lewis are exactly natural full-backs.

Guardiola, meanwhile, picks both Nico O'Reilly and James McAtee – I'm looking forward to seeing both – and Phil Foden will play as a false nine in my opinion.

We're traveling in the Amex; Tim de Lisle follows this and the rest of the 7.45 seconds next door:

Postecoglou relies on physicality in midfield – even Kulusevski, his attacker, is an absolute brute. I'm sure we'll see Maddison at some point, but I understand why he wasn't there from the start. At the back I'm curious to see how Archie Gray does and wonder if Romero, Dragusin, Van de Ven is the most passionate trio in the league, while up front is probably the place City leaves for a reason, Timo Werner is in the XI .

I'll write them down, then we will wonder what they could mean.

As for the city, They leave out Ederson, Dias, Gvardiol, Kovacic, Bernardo and Haaland, while adding Ortega, Stones, Ake and Gündogan as well as newcomers O'Reilly and McAtee.

Postecoglou makes five changes from the team that lost at Palace. Porro, Udogie, Bissouma, Maddison and Moore slide onto the bench, Gray, Dragusin, Sarr, Bentacur and Werner join them. I'm a little surprised by this – I was expecting fewer changes – but Spurs have decent strength in depth these days so they still have a lot of quality in the side.

Teams!

preamble