O’Reilly starts in six changes for Tottenham clash | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola has made six changes for tonight’s Carabao Cup clash at Tottenham Hotspur – with Nico O’Reilly starting plus Academy aces Farid Alfa-Ruprecht, Jahmai Simpson-Pusey and Jacob Wright also in the squad this evening.

O’Reilly, Stefan Ortega Moreno, John Stones, Nathan Ake, James McAtee and Ilkay Gundogan – who captains the side – come in for the capital clash.

Meanwhile, Ederson, Josko Gvardiol, Ruben Dias, Mateo Kovacic, Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland drop to the bench for the 20:15 (UK) kick-off as the Blues aim for progress into the quarter-final of the competition.

Kevin De Bruyne, Kyle Walker, Jeremy Doku and Jack Grealish are all still out as well as long-term absentees Oscar Bobb and Ballon d’Or winner Rodri.

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TEAM NEWS

CITY XI: Ortega Moreno, Lewis, Stones, Akanji, Ake, Gundogan (C), McAtee, O’Reilly, Savinho, Nunes, Foden

Subs: Ederson, Dias, Kovacic, Haaland, Bernardo, Gvardiol, Wright, Simpson Pusey, Alfa Ruprecht

TACTICS

Stefan Ortega Moreno starts in goal and will be protected by a back four of Rico Lewis, Manuel Akanji, John Stones and Nathan Ake.

Nico O’Reilly and Ilkay Gundogan will aim to dominate the battle ground of midfield with James McAtee offering more attacking impetus to the champions.

Up top, Phil Foden, Savinho and Matheus Nunes will aim to do damage to the Tottenham backline.

WARM WELCOME FOR YOUNG BLUES

Pep Guardiola made it clear in his pre-match press conference that the Carabao Cup is a competition he takes incredibly seriously.

And the evidence is there for all to see - he’s won it four times since his arrival eight years ago which is the joint most of any manager in history!

But he also revealed that he always tends to use the early rounds – up to the semi-final - to rotate his players and bring in first teamers who haven’t played as much as others in the early weeks of the season.

This time around, though, it’s not been as straightforward for the boss with Kevin De Bruyne, Kyle Walker, Jeremy Doku and Jack Grealish, Oscar Bobb and Rodri all out injured.

While he also stressed in his media briefing he didn’t want to throw in a host of young players because of the quality of our opponents, Tottenham – who come into this match fresh off a defeat and undoubtedly in the mood for victory, he’s had to look to the Academy to bolster tonight’s squad.

Promising midfielder Nico O’Reilly comes into the XI while winger Farid Alfa-Ruprecht (pictured below) and defender Jahmai Simpson-Pusey enjoy their first involvement with the senior squad alongside midfield general Jacob Wright as the trio take their place on the bench.

Among the newcomers to the senior set-up, Simpson-Pusey is an 18-year-old calm, graceful and towering centre-back who has been at City since he was eight years old. He was captain of our all-conquering Youth Cup-winning team of 2023/24.

German winger Alfa-Ruprecht is lightning-quick, has mesmerizing skills and joined the club two years ago from Hamburg.

The manager has great faith in this flourishing production line within the CFA so while he’d love progress to the next round without looking to the youthful bench, he’ll have no issues giving Alfa-Ruprecht, Simpson-Pusey and Wright the necessary nod to do their stuff at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

CUP JOY

We may not have won the Carabao Cup of late but it’s a competition we undoubtedly excel in - and one that Pep Guardiola has enjoyed huge joy in during eight years in the City hotseat.

The Blues are second on the all-time list of winners – only behind Liverpool - with eight victories across 1970, 1976, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.

Of those, four have come under the stewardship of Guardiola – beating Arsenal, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Tottenham in consecutive finals.

Indeed, Guardiola has won the most League Cups of any manager, a record he shares in esteemed company alongside Brian Clough and Alex Ferguson.

And an even closer inspection of the stats show that since the start of his first season in charge, under Guardiola, City have won more League Cup games than any other side (23) and scored more goals than any other team (68).

Our titanic Treble success of 2022/23 and crowning as History Makers in 2023/24 may not have included the Carabao Cup as we exited away at Southampton and Newcastle.

But they appear to be definite exceptions to the rule.

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MATCH STATS

-This is the first League Cup meeting between Spurs and City since the 2021 final, won 1-0 by City at Wembley. Tottenham have won the other three games between the sides in the EFL Cup, however, in 1992 (1-0), 2003 (3-1) and 2007 (2-0).

-After failing to score in each of our first five away games at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium between 2019 and 2023, City have won our last two there without conceding. City last won three away games in a row against Spurs in August 1974.

-Tottenham Hotspur have been eliminated in their last three League Cup ties against fellow Premier League sides, going out to Chelsea in 2021/22, Nottingham Forest in 2022/23 and Fulham in 2023/24.

-City have failed to score in our last three away League Cup games (D1 L2), losing each of our last two. We haven’t lost three away games in a row in the competition since August 1997.

-City’s Pep Guardiola has won 72% of his games in the League Cup (23 wins in 32 games). In League Cup history, among managers with more than 25 games in the competition, only Jose Mourinho (73%, won 27/37) has a better win percentage.