Blues face difficult tie at in-form Spurs
Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester City
Date: 7.45pm, Wednesday 29th January 2014
Venue: White Hart Lane, North London
Referee: Andre Marriner. Assistants: S Ledger, M Perry. Fourth Official: J Moss.
Odds: Tottenham 3/1, Draw 11/4, Manchester City 10/11
Tickets: Sold out.
TV: BT Sport.
Tottenham Hotspur
Manager: Tim Sherwood
Squad (from): Friedel, Gomes, Lloris, Chiriches, Dawson, Naughton, Rose, Vertonghen, Walker, Capoue, Chadli, Dembele, Eriksen, Holtby, Lennon, Paulinho, Sigurdsson, Adebayor, Soldado.
Injured: Townsend, Lamela
Doubtful: Paulinho, Vertonghen, Sandro, Kaboul
Suspended: None
Form guide: WWWWDW
Manchester City
Manager: Manuel Pellegrini
Squad (from): Hart, Pantilimon, Boyata, Clichy, Demichelis, Kolarov, Kompany, Lescott, Nastasic, Richards, Zabaleta, Fernandinho, Navas, Rodwell, Silva, Toure, Aguero, Dzeko, Jovetic, Negredo
Injured: Nasri, Garcia, Milner
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Form guide: WWWWWW
City welcome David Silva and Alvaro Negredo back into the squad following hamstring and shoulder problems respectively, but long term absentee Samir Nasri misses out once again with a knee injury. James Milner and Javi Garcia are also unavailable with minor knocks, but Joe Hart, Vincent Kompany, Pablo Zabaleta and Fernandinho will be recalled to the starting XI after being named on the bench for Saturday's nervy F.A. Cup win over Watford.
The Blues are in excellent form at present, unbeaten in the last nineteen games in all competitions, but manager Manuel Pellegrini has warned against complacency following an awful first half performance at the weekend..
"It was a good lesson - to pay attention in the right moments. In football the difference between winning and losing is very slight", said Pellegrini.
"I can't say what they saw of me, but I think we made the correct arrangements during half-time.
"I think the reaction was very important, as was the way we finished the game."
Spurs are likely to be without Andros Townsend and Erik Lamela, whilst Jan Vertonghen, Younes Kaboul and Sandro are back in training but remain doubts. The North Londoners are in good form going into the game, with new manager Tim Sherwood having taken 16 points out of a possible 18.
City's last league game at Tottenham ended in a 3-1 defeat, with Samir Nasri opening the scoring for the Blues. Overall City have won 55 of the 146 games played against Spurs, with 34 draws and 57 defeats.
Read the views of Spurs fan Dustin, from Cartilage Free Captain, here.
Prediction: Tottenham Hotspur 2 City 2
