Rodrigo will start for Manchester City against Tottenham Hotspur tonight and Ruben Dias and Sergio Aguero are among the substitutes for the Premier League title at the Etihad Stadium.
Men’s crew
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Pep Guardiola has made five changes to the starting side against Swansea City in midweek, with Ederson, Joao Cancelo, John Stones, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Phil Foden brought back into the starting XI.
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They are replaced by Zack Steffen, Kyle Walker, Eric Garcia, Benjamin Mendy and Ferran Torres, all of whom are substitutes.
The availability of Rodrigo and Dias is a welcome boost for Guardiola after the Spaniard took on Swansea, a game that Dias missed due to illness.
The inclusion of Aguero in the squad after an 11-game absence is reason to celebrate further.
The Club ‘s goalkeeper has not emerged since winning 3-1 over Chelsea on 3 January due to COVID-19 and his return greatly strengthens our attacking options.
Teams
CITY: Ederson, Cancelo, Clachan, Laporte, Zinchenko, Rodrigo, Gundogan, Bernardo, Foden, Sterling (C), Jesus.
SUBS: Steffen, Walker, Dias, Aguero, Torres, Mendy, Mahrez, Garcia, Doyle.
SPURS: Lloris (C), Tanganga, Sanchez, Dier, Davies, Hojbjerg, Ndombele, Lamela, Lucas, Son, Kane.
SUBS: Hart, Alderweireld, Doherty, Winks, Sissoko, Dele, Bale, Bergwijn, Vinicius.
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Creation and squad notes
It looks like City will take on Guardiola’s preferred 4-3-3 draw during his tenure.
Cancelo and Zinchenko should continue to put extra bodies in the middle of the park as they did a few weeks ago, with form Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva assisting as an attack ahead of Rodrigo.
Jesus ’inclusion means there are no question marks on how the three faces come up, with Raheem Sterling and Foden on either side of the midfield on either side.
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Stats and facts
- City have won seven of their last 10 league meetings at the Etihad Stadium, just losing in February 2016, but Spurs have won both of their home league meetings since Jose Mourinho has been over.
- We have a 15-game winning streak in all competitions, a record for an English senior team, and we are unbeaten in 22 since Tottenham won 2-0 in November.
- We have only conceded three goals in the last 14 league games.
- The Club ‘s record of seven clean home pages can be matched in all competitions, established between December 1946 and March 1947.
- Pep Guardiola could miss three consecutive off-flight games against the same team for the first time as manager.
- He and Jose Mourinho have clashed in 24 games, with Guardiola leading by 10 wins to seven.
- Ilkay Gundogan will be the Premier League’s top scorer in 2021 with seven goals in eight goals. His previous seven league goals came in over 62 games.
- Spurs have won just one of six away fixtures (D3, L2). They could miss consecutive league games for the first time since October 2019.
- They are waiting to beat the two Manchester clubs away in the same high-flying season for the first time since 1959-60. Liverpool were the last to do so in 2008-09.
- Son Heung-min has scored six goals in his last eight appearances against us in all competitions.
- Harry Kane on average gets a Premier League goal every 428 minutes against City, his worst record against any of the 30 teams he has had in the division. The striker has scored twice in 10 goals in this game, but none in the last six.
CITYZENS: SCORE PREDICTOR – Score Predictor_City vs Tottenham Hotspur PL 20/21