Tottenham Hotspur are gearing up for a mouth-watering League Cup tie at home to Manchester City on Wednesday.
Spurs are still reeling from last weekend’s shocking 1-0 Premier League defeat at Crystal Palace.
However disappointing that result was, they can’t afford to dwell on it for too long, with another difficult contest on the horizon.
City head into Wednesday’s showdown on the back of a narrow 1-0 win over relegation contenders Southampton at the Etihad Stadium.
Erling Braut Haaland’s 11th Premier League goal inside the opening five minutes was enough to send the reigning champions to the summit, so they’ll visit Spurs with their 13-match unbeaten streak still intact.
Ending City’s unbeaten start to the season would be the perfect response to the Palace defeat, but Spurs have failed to get the better of their Manchester counterparts in their last two cup meetings.
Postecoglou is expected to tweak the team that lost to Palace. Given the calibre of Wednesday’s opponent, the Australian will be forced to field a strong starting XI.
He has lost his last two meetings with Pep Guardiola, so revenge will be on the agenda. However, his task will be more difficult in the absence of Spurs captain Heung-min Son.
The South Korean is close to returning to full match fitness, but Spurs will have to find a way to hand City a dose of their own medicine without their talisman.
Timo Werner, whose long-term future at Spurs has come under intense scrutiny, is expected to replace Son on the left flank, while talented academy star Mikey Moore drops to the bench.
That would be one of eight changes Postecoglou could make from the side that lost to Palace last weekend, although a couple of first-team regulars should retain their places.
Predicted Tottenham XI vs Man City:
(4-3-3): Fraser Forster; Archie Gray, Radu Dragusin, Ben Davies, Destiny Udogie; Pape Matar Sarr, Rodrigo Bentancur, James Maddison; Timo Werner, Richarlison, Brennan Johnson.
