Tottenham can't beat Man City, but they have a secret weapon for the second half

This Friday Tottenham and Manchester City have an important challenge. They are facing each other in the round of 32 of the FA Cup, knowing that only one of them can advance to the next stage of the tournament. For both teams this tournament is a key objective. The Citizens were champions last year and now want to repeat, while Spurs have not won titles for a long time and this may be their last chance to do so this season.

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Pep Guardiola also has an extra difficulty. He cannot count on Erling Haaland, who has been sidelined for almost two months with a foot injury after the game against Aston Villa. Although the Norwegian striker is almost recovered and has even started training with his teammates, he is still not 100% and that is why the manager decided not to call him up this time.

The absence of their biggest star was noticeable during the first half, as Manchester City controlled the ball and created some opportunities to score the opener, but they lacked accuracy and that's why Guglielmo Vicario had no problems to keep a clean sheet. But the hosts could not make the difference in attack either and their forwards Timo Werner, Richarlison and Brennan Johnson were hardly involved in the game.

However, coach Ange Postecoglou has an ace up his sleeve and will not hesitate to use it during the second half: on the bench is James Maddison, the team's best player, who was sidelined for the last few months due to an ankle injury. His last game was in November against Chelsea, but he is now recovered. In fact, during the first half he received a standing ovation from the fans when he started doing warm-up exercises.

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Pep also has options

Guardiola must certainly not be satisfied with his team's performance during the first half and that is why he may make changes after the break. Manchester City's substitutes are Ederson, John Stones, Jack Grealish, Jeremy Doku, Kevin De Bruyne, Sergio Gomez, Mattheus Nunes, Mahamadou Susoho and Rico Lewis.