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Kick-off
Sarr gets us under way as Spurs kick for the corner. Nick the optimistic Spurs fan says: “I don’t dare switch the notifications on.”
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I wonder if Kevin De Bruyne is watching today, perhaps from a hotel room in Emilia-Romagna as his Napoli team prepare to kick off their Serie A season at Sassuolo later on. The Belgian scored three and assisted three in his 14 league games against Spurs while at City.
Kick-off is five minutes away at the Etihad!
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The managers have been speaking to the TV mics:
Frank says he has “laser focus” on picking his Spurs team today amid the transfer noise surrounding Eze’s move to Arsenal. He is asked about Palhinha, who he says is a “top player” and Richarlison, who he says is a “top striker” – consistent, at least.
Guardiola says it was a “difficult selection” to pick Trafford over Ederson today given that Ederson has given City “massive things” in the last decade. As for Rodri, it will be “step by step” in terms of his re-introduction into the team.
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Rúben Dias starts for Manchester City today. He signed a two-year contract extension with the club this week to take his stay through to 2029:
I love Manchester – it is my home now – and I love the Manchester City fans. Their support from day one has been absolutely unbelievable, and I appreciate them a lot. When I think about the trophies we have won and the way we have played our football during my time, I couldn’t imagine playing anywhere else.
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This fixture was a sort of nadir (as nadirs go) for Manchester City last season, thumped 4-0 by Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs – it was their fifth defeat in a row and knocked their already faltering title defence even further sideways.
Maddison scored twice for Spurs that afternoon, with further goals for Pedro Porro and Brennan Johnson. Even Timo Werner was enjoying himself. Spurs will have to do without their No 10 today and for the foreseeable future after his anterior cruciate ligament injury over the summer. The same goes for Dejan Kulusevski, who has been ruled out until the new year with a knee injury of his own.
Now, though, City appear to have recovered some of the swagger that has defined them under Guardiola. Their ruthless display against Wolves last weekend, when new signings Cherki and Reijnders opened their accounts for the club, was ominous for their rivals for the Premier League title.
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Eze is the elephant in the room as far as Spurs are concerned today. Without the injured James Maddison, their squad is lacking in creativity and you’d imagine they’ll try their luck in the transfer market again before the window shuts.
With Eze on his way to the other side of north London, Frank is keen to recruit players who actually want to play for Spurs:
That’s very clear and I’m also pretty sure that the fans will feel the same. If they [the signings] don’t want to put the fantastic shirt over their head, play for the badge, play for the club, really enjoy it, no problem. We don’t want them. I think that’s a key message.
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James Trafford keeps his place for City, then, despite the return of Ederson from injury. Rodri and Phil Foden are only fit enough for a place on the bench after missing the opening win at Wolves. Omar Marmoush and Rayan Cherki replace Bernardo Silva and Jérémy Doku in the lineup.
Thomas Frank sticks to the four-man defence that played against Burnley having deployed three centre-backs in the Super Cup against PSG. Rodrigo Bentancur and João Palhinha come into the midfield for Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray.
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Team news
Guardiola and Frank have played their first cards:
Man City (4-2-3-1): Trafford; Lewis, Stones, Dias, Aït-Nouri; Reijnders, González; Bobb, Cherki, Marmoush; Haaland
Subs: Ederson, Aké, Doku, Rodri, Silva, Nunes, O’Reilly, Khusanov, Foden
Tottenham (4-3-3): Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Spence; Sarr, Palhinha, Bentancur; Kudus, Richarlison, Johnson
Subs: Kinsky, Danso, Tel, Gray, Bergvall, Vuskovic, Solanke, Odobert, Davies
Referee: Peter Bankes
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Updated at 12.40 CEST
Preamble
Hello and welcome to minute-by-minute coverage of Manchester City v Tottenham in the Premier League. Both teams come into this one off the back of impressive wins in their opening fixtures last weekend – Spurs against Burnley and City at Wolves.
Spurs, though, are somewhat licking their wounds after their move for Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze was hijacked by Arsenal, trumping the embarrassment they suffered in their failed pursuit of Morgan Gibbs-White of Nottingham Forest.
Pep Guardiola, meanwhile, is avoiding talk of “revenge” in the buildup to this one. He’ll surely have been studying the tapes of last season’s 4-0 reverse at the hands of today’s opponents. But Spurs, of course, are a very different proposition to last November. Thomas Frank is not Ange Postecoglou, etc.
Feel free to get in touch with your predictions, thoughts and opinions on today’s game – you can do so via this email.
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