The Daly Brief | Spurs vs Manchester City, Premier League | OneFootball

"Manchester City will likely bring in their two big winter signings on Sunday, while Erling Haaland is back amongst the goals... however, Spurs are looking to do the double over Pep Guardiola’s side after an impressive tactical showing earlier in the campaign..."

Rob Daly, official club commentator, presenter and pundit

What happened at the Etihad?

Spurs’ opening goal in their 2-0 August win at City came from an electric move down the right, with Pape Matar Sarr flicking the ball on to Richarlison who found Brennan Johnson in the middle, unmarked. “We talked about their high line, and one thing is to talk about it and try to train for it. It's never that easy,” explained Thomas Frank afterwards. “I think we ran into offside six times before (the goal). Of course, the goal looks very successful and that's what we look at.”

How did Spurs press City?

Along with that, Spurs applied a hyper-aggressive press, as they had in the UEFA Super Cup against PSG. City had James Trafford between the posts that day and, from a goal-kick, as he tried to play out, Spurs pounced, winning the ball in the box before Joao Palhinha smashed home. "I believe in the high pressure… I like that mentality… it's a more offensive way of defending,” said Frank at full-time. Palhinha was outstanding, winning everything in midfield, while Sarr pressed so effectively in Spurs’ number 10 position.

Why did City sign Guehi and Semenyo?

Marc Guehi and Antoine Semenyo should be fresh, having been unable to play in the Champions League in midweek. Spurs legend, and my commentary colleague, Clive Allen, was at City’s weekend win over Wolves, describing Guehi as a 'Rolls-Royce' as he made his debut. “He knows everything. I remember it is similar to when Ruben (Dias) arrived and he had incredible focus for every action,” detailed Guardiola, who has needed centre-back reinforcements due to injuries to John Stones, Dias and Josko Gvardiol. “With the ball he has incredible composure.” City have plenty of forward options, but Semenyo has been pure output since joining from Bournemouth, scoring in three of his four matches so far. “Antoine came with incredible energy and strikers are about numbers… since he arrived he has been unbelievable,” his manager added.

Managing Haaland's minutes...

Perhaps Semenyo can help City rest Erling Haaland on occasion, with Guardiola rotating him out for the Wolves match eight days ago. "There are a lot of games. I want to, a little bit, clean his mind, his body,” explained Guardiola, having highlighted that his top scorer was 'exhausted' before the recent Carabao Cup tie with Newcastle. The goals haven’t been flowing as freely, with Haaland’s strike against Galatasaray in midweek a first from open play in 10 games. His season tally is still an impressive 27, but the striker apologised to fans after a recent defeat to Bodo/Glimt. "I don't have the answers. I take full responsibility of not being able to score the goals I should do,” the Norwegian striker said.

Will Spurs go 3-4-3 again?

If Spurs can marry the tactics used at City with the recently preferred formation, it’s hard to see Thomas Frank deviating from 3-4-3. Injuries limited options in defence in Germany with Pedro Porro out for weeks and Micky van de Ven missing the game too. Joao Palhinha impressed in the back three in Frankfurt, and could line-up alongside Kevin Danso and Cristian Romero again. Dominic Solanke’s impressive ability to press could see him come in for a start after his goalscoring cameo on Wednesday. Despite the injuries, Mathys Tel, Conor Gallagher, Yves Bissouma and Radu Dragusin all come back into contention having been ineligible for the Champions League.

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