Ange Postecoglou is looking forward to the challenge of tonight’s FA Cup clash with Manchester City and has promised that Tottenham will “compete” with the winners.
Spurs are looking to maintain their excellent home record against City, who have yet to score at their new stadium, and deliver the first blow to Pep Guardiola’s triple title defence in the fourth round of the competition.
Postecoglou’s team will welcome back James Maddison from injury, but City talisman Kevin De Bruyne could start for the first time since August – Tottenham’s head coach has warned that his team will be “trapped” if they focus too much on the Belgian.
Spurs took the final point in a thrilling 3-3 draw at the Etihad Stadium last month, missing Maddison and using full-backs Emerson Roy and Ben Davies in the centre of the back four.
Postecoglou expects more goals tonight and believes his team can compete with the English and European champions.
“You can’t write a script, so the game will probably end 0-0 and quite boring! But I enjoy these chances,” Postecoglou told Standard Sport.
“I liked the 3-3 scoreline against them. It was a great match. There were so many stories in the game, I liked that.
“That’s what I love in football, and that’s what you want. Obviously you want to win because it makes you feel better about what happened, but you’re playing probably the best side in the world and we feel like we can compete with them. We will do that and we will see what the outcome is.
“I will be surprised if there are no goals tonight,” he added. “I think it will be a great challenge and I think it will be a great game. Both teams are looking forward to seeing how we compete.”
Maddison’s return is a big boost for the Spurs, who also have Dejan Kuleshevski available again after illness, while City’s last-gasp 3-2 win over Newcastle was turned around by De Bruyne, who returned to the Premier League.
He scored a goal and netted another in a 20-minute appearance, but Postecoglou wants Spurs to focus on City as a team.
“He’s an exceptional footballer, one of those you just love to watch – unless you’re playing against him,” he said.
“If you fall into the trap of thinking that’s the key to stopping this Manchester City team, you’re going to trip yourself up. They have quality everywhere they can hurt you.
“It’s fair to say that in my coaching career, whenever I’ve been in big tournaments, I’ve come out as the underdog and I’ve always felt that the only way to do things is collectively. If we start to do things individually, we don’t have a chance.
“That’s the beauty of football. In the end, it’s not one against one, it’s 11 against 11. If you can maintain that throughout the game and as a collective you reduce the influence of individuals, you have a better chance of success.
“If we try to stop Kevin and ignore Phil Foden or Bernard [Silva] or – oh, don’t make me name them, I’ll go through the whole team – we’ll be caught in a trap.”
Postecoglou said Maddison is “ready to go” and believes he will “want to make up for lost time” after a three-month absence due to an ankle ligament injury.
Asked whether Maddison could have a similar impact to De Bruyne at St James’ Park, the Australian replied: “That’s very important: I don’t want to put that kind of expectation on him.
“But I know what Maddison expects. And in training you wouldn’t know he was missing that much. The quality is immediately visible and everybody notices it. Physically he looks good too.
“He’s the type of guy who will want to make up for what he missed, come back and make an immediate impact.”
Spurs captain Heung-min Son is still at the Asian Cup with South Korea, while Mali international Yves Bissouma and Senegal midfielder Pape Sarr remain at the Africa Cup of Nations. Giovani Lo Celso (hamstring), Manor Solomon and Alejo Veliz (both knee) and Ryan Sessegnon are absent.