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[/center][center]Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester City
White Hart Lane
Sunday 21st April
Kick Off: 13:30
Referee: Lee Mason[/center]
It’s been a brilliant couple of weeks to be a Manchester City fan; watching the team go to Old Trafford and put the rags firmly in their place and then return to Wembley and book a second FA Cup final in 3 years. However the positivity was almost ruined by the visit of FA Cup final opponents Wigan. Mancini rang the changes from the side that won at Wembley and to say they looked a little rusty and lethargic would be an understatement. In reality Wigan looked the most likely to break the deadlock, at least until Carlos Tevez decided to intervene with a little bit of magic. Receiving the ball just outside the area and faced with two defenders and not a lot of space most players would have turned and looked to recycle possession. Not Tevez; a swivel of the hips, a burst of pace and power and he was into the box, before unleashing a rocket of a shot past the helpless Robles to maintain the healthy point’s gap between second and the chasing pack and lay down a marker ahead of the all important cup final.
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[/center][center]Tevez fires City ahead against Wigan.[/center]
So one week on from there victory over Chelsea Mancini takes his City team to London again, this time to take on Tottenham Hotspur. The Spurs have been performing well this year, largely down to the fact that Gareth Bale has been in relentless form. With a total of 22 goals in all competitions Bale has dragged Tottenham almost single handed into the upper echelons of the premier league. Sadly as he’s injured Pablo Zabaleta won’t have the privilege of putting him in his place (writer breathes sigh of relief) and Spurs will have to look elsewhere for their inspiration. Both clubs have things to play for and if recent clashes between City and Spurs it are anything to go by it should prove to be a good game.
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[/center][center]Gareth Bale times injury to perfection to avoid facing Pablo Zabaleta.[/center]
City
Ever the pragmatist, expect Mancini to revert to his strongest possible line up in an effort to secure that second spot and keep the gap as close to the top as possible. Whilst continuing to lay down a marker that says “City are here to stay and will be coming for the title again next year.” Joe Hart is likely to continue between the sticks and will be chasing a 16th clean sheet. Pablo Zabaleta and Gael Clichy are likely to return to the side after a well earned if almost costly rest against Wigan. Despite a relatively solid performance against the Latics, Joleon Lescott is likely to revert to the bench with Mancini’s favoured pairing of club captain Vincent Kompany and the ever assured Matija Nastasic continuing their impressive partnership. City will be looking to build upon the strong foundation provided by those two and their performances together this year will provide plenty of positivity looking forward to the start of the next season. In front of them Mancini is likely to play the ever reliable Gareth Barry and City’s colossal one man wrecking ball Yaya Toure. With Tottenham lacking striking options and likely to field a 5 man midfield Mancini should recall the industry and battling abilities of James Milner to help carry the work load and pending a fitness test David Silva will be expected to add a touch of class in the final third which was certainly missing against Wigan.
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[/center][center]Mancini will be delighted to recall Spanish star Silva.[/center]
The only area that seems difficult to predict is whether Mancini will match Tottenham’s five man midfield or keep four and continue with the Argentine double act Aguero and Tevez up front - pending a fitness test for Aguero too. If he does decide to go for a five man midfield he has options in abundance with Rodwell and Garcia possibilities to add more bite or perhaps Samir Nasri to carry a bit more threat in attack. Nasri has continued to frustrate this year showing flashes of brilliance with flashes of nothing at all but over the last couple of games he appears to have been moving on an upward curve. Without Silva City would have been looking to Nasri to step up and carry the team creatively. What followed was a good performance and a goal in the Semi against Chelsea and an average performance with not enough in the way of touches of class that City would have hoped for although perhaps still an improvement on what the fans have come to expect.
The question remains, is Nasri’s late flourish an attempt to convince Mancini of his worth before the Italian dips into the war chests in the summer or simply the signs of a player looking to secure a fresh start perhaps closer to home with big spenders PSG and Monaco? So dependent on his midfield selection Mancini will be looking at either one or two from his available three forwards. Aguero is Mancini’s favoured man and would often be deployed up front alone. He looked very tired in the first half against Wigan and perhaps should have been given the night off. However with plenty of R + R between Wigan and Spurs he should be raring to go and with Tevez beginning to play his way into form it would be a surprise if he were dropped. If Aguero cannot shake off his niggle then Mancini would be forced to choose between deploying the extra midfielder especially as Dzeko appears to have fallen from favour (perhaps a sign that Mancini is planning for life without the big Bosnian next season.)
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[/center][center]Nasri: homeward bound or looking to lay down a marker before the start of next season?[/center]
Tottenham
After his tumultuous time at Chelsea, AVB has settled down and is beginning to show exactly why Roman Abramovich dug deep to lure him away from Porto. Admittedly as noted before his job is made that much easier when Gareth Bale plays as he has this year but with a relatively small squad hampered by some key injuries AVB has done well to steer them to within touching distance of the Champions League. Much of what happens at Tottenham next year is likely to be shaped by their performances from now until the end of this season. Following his superb season it would be no surprise to find out that Gareth Bale is probably considering his options with the top clubs across Europe likely to be clambering over themselves for his signature. Failure to secure Champions League football this year would surely see him look to leave and severely dent Tottenham’s future ambitions. I fact even if they do clinch fourth, the lure of big clubs such as Real and Barca may prove too much anyway. Perhaps a lot depends on where the board at Tottenham really want to take the club, 2 or 3 big signings in the summer and Champions League football may convince Bale that Tottenham can become a force, however Levy has often been careful in splashing too much money about and perhaps this businessman in him will look to cash in on Bale and strengthen the squad with 4 or 5 players and be content to qualify for the CL again without making a tilt at the league.
As for team selection the impressive Hugo Lloris has been AVB’s preferred choice in the league ahead of Friedel and that is likely to continue against City. Calling Spurs’ back four is a bit of a lottery. The only two certainties in the starting back four are the greatest right back the world has ever seen (aside from Rafael at the rags) Kyle Walker and the excellent Jan Vertonghen. Extremely versatile, Vertonghen could be deployed at left back with Steven Caulker and Michael Dawson at centre back, or he may partner one of the aforementioned pair with the dreadfully coiffured (probably not actually a word but needed to be included) Assou-Ekotto or Kyle Naughton at left back. In midfield Spurs have a lot of options but a lack of balance. AVB has favoured formations employing the width and pace offered by Lennon and Bale, but with both of them struggling to be fit Vilas Boas is likely to play a 5 man midfield. The most likely line-up based on past appearances would perhaps be Dempsey, Parker, Sigurdsson, Holtby and Dembele but it may be tempting for him to play Huddlestone in attempt to deal with the power of Yaya Toure. Upfront there are no selection dilemmas whatsoever. Spurs will turn to Adebayor to lead the line as their one fit senior striker (Defoe is on the brink of a return but is unlikely to be match fit) and wait with bated breath to see which Adebayor turns up. On his day as City fans will know Adebayor can blow defences apart with his power and ability however Adebayor’s “days” are rare occurrences and he can spend large periods of many games wandering dejectedly through the opposition half, spurning chances and failing to contribute to the best of his undoubted ability.
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Predictions
A swaggering City will continue their good run of form with a 3-1 win against a Tottenham side struggling without their Welsh talisman. Despite Adebayor proving to be his usual erratic self in front of goal this year he will definitely nick one against his former side – they always do!
