Manchester City vs Tottenham Hotspur preview: Gabriel Jesus to make debut?

By Ric Turner, Fri 20 January 2017 14:47


Manchester City vs Tottenham Hotspur preview: Gabriel Jesus to make debut?New £27m is "ready to be involved" according to Guardiola

Manchester City vs Tottenham Hotspur

Competition: F.A. Premier League

Date: 5.30pm, Saturday 21st January 2017

Venue: Etihad Stadium, Manchester

Referee: Andre Marriner Assistants: S Beck, A Garratt Fourth Official: M Jones

Odds: City 6/5, Draw 5/2, Spurs 12/5. Betting £10 at Betsafe, an official Manchester City partner, would get you £21.50 if the Citizens beat Tottenham on Saturday.

Tickets: Available via mcfc.co.uk

TV: BT Sports

Manchester City

Manager: Pep Guardiola

Squad (from): Bravo, Caballero, Gunn, Adarabioyo, Clichy, Kolarov, Kompany, Otamendi, Sagna, Stones, Zabaleta, De Bruyne, Delph, Fernando, Garcia, Navas, Nolito, Silva, Sane, Sterling, Toure, Aguero, Iheanacho, Jesus

Injured: Gundogan

Doubtful: None

Suspended: Fernandinho

Form guide: WWLWWL

Tottenham Hotspur

Manager: Mauricio Pochettino

Squad (from): Lloris, Vorm, Walker, Rose, Alderweireld, Trippier, Wimmer, Davies, Son, Dier, Dembele, Alli, Eriksen, Kane, Wanyama, Janssen, Carter-Vickers, Onomah, Winks, Sissoko, Nkoudou

Injured: Vertonghen, Lamela

Doubtful: None

Suspended: None

Form guide: WWWWWW

Ilkay Gundogan is City's only injury ahead of the clash with Tottenham, whilst Fernandinho serves the third game of a four match ban after being red carded against Burnley. New signing Gabriel Jesus is available now that his £27m move from Palmeiras has been rubber-stamped, and manager Pep Guardiola says he is in contention to make his debut against Spurs:

“He is fit, he is ready to be involved in the squad,” Guardiola said. “He is going to help us in the Premier League.

“He is a young player, 19, so we cannot think he will solve our problems. He will have all the time to get involved.

“It will be easier if he could have arrived at the beginning of the season. Now is the middle of the season with not too many training sessions. But he is smart and has quality and is going to help us.

“All the strikers try to help us and Gabriel is going to happen too. He is going to be involved in the way we want to play. He is going to help us because he is young, have patience, he wants to create his career here and we are going to help him.”

City's last home game against Spurs ended in a 2-1 draw, with Kelechi Iheanacho scoring for the Blues. Overall City have won 58 of the 152 games played against Spurs, with 34 draws and 60 defeats.

Predicted line-up: Bravo, Sagna, Stones, Otamendi, Clichy, Fernando, Toure, Silva, De Bruyne, Sterling, Aguero

Score prediction: City 1 Spurs 2