Evening Standard
·22 November 2024
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Yahoo sportsEvening Standard
·22 November 2024
Spurs facing defensive crisis for trip to Etihad Stadium
Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou will be without both first-choice centre-backs for Saturday’s Premier League game against Manchester City.
Cristian Romero (foot) and Micky van de Ven (hamstring) will both miss the trip to the Etihad for the second season running, with Radu Dragusin and Ben Davies expected to fill-in.
Rodrigo Bentancur will serve the first of his seven-game domestic ban and is set to be replaced at No.6 by Yves Bissouma, while James Maddison is fighting to return to the XI after slipping behind Pape Matar Sarr and Dejan Kulusevski in the pecking order in recent weeks.
Richarlison and Wilson Odobert (both hamstring) are long-term absentees and Mikey Moore remains unavailable following a virus, so Heung-min Son and Brennan Johnson are all but certain to flank Dominic Solanke in the front three.
Postecoglou has said he hopes Romero will be "right for next week" but van de Ven is not expected to play again until "the middle of December" after pulling up in the Carabao Cup win over City last month.
Spurs drew 3-3 at the Etihad last season without the pair, Davies and Emerson Royal deputising at the heart of a defence in an entertaining match.
Spurs predicted XI (4-3-3): Vicario; Porro, Dragusin, Davies, Udogie; Bissouma, Kulusevski, Sarr; Johnson, Son, Solanke
Injured: Romero, Van de Ven, Richarlison, Odobert, Moore
Suspended: Bentancur
Time and date: 5.30pm GMT on Saturday 23 November 2024
Venue: Etihad Stadium, Manchester
TV channel and live stream: Sky Sports
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