Pep Guardiola has explained why he's drafted both Rico Lewis and Julian Alvarez into his side to face Tottenham.
Manchester City are looking to arrest their poor run of form and avoid losing three matches on the bounce when they face their bogey side. Guardiola has made sweeping changes to his starting XI with big names Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden, Kyle Walker and Joao Cancelo all being left on the bench.
World Cup winner Alvarez has come into the team in order to provide more support for Erling Haaland who has now gone two-and-a-half games without scoring, and the Blues boss told Sky Sports: "We need a bit more presence in the final third."
ALSO READ: Man City vs Tottenham LIVE
"Close to Erling, players like attacking midfielders to be close to them and we try to, his energy, his movements, his sense of goal, and that’s why he’s in my side."
Teenage defender Lewis has returned to the fold after a series of impressive performances of late, with Guardiola revealing it's his excellent positioning that has gotten him the nod. He continued: "Because the games he played he played really well. We wanted an extra man in the middle and he reads really well his positions, that’s why he’s selected.
"I like how he plays, he makes his teammates better. I know it’s a big responsibility, playing against Son, Kulusevski, Harry Kane, they’re big stars that they have but he has had brilliant games against Chelsea and Liverpool, we want to attack today we thought he was perfect for tonight."
Guardiola also laid out the importance of his side getting back to winning ways against a team they have struggled against in the past. Spurs won both meetings last season and City have only managed to beat them twice in their last seven encounters. He added: "It is [important], but had we won in Old Trafford it would have been important too. We dropped points, we have to continue to be there.
"As always to be who we are. To defend completely different like Man United and every game we try to make a plan or idea that we have to do and try to do it, the players will dictate whether that will happen or not.
"Last season we dropped six points against them so, we’ve had good results, bad results, they’re a top team so no doubt about that."
READ NEXT:
