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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
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George Smith

Raheem Sterling starts, Jack Grealish out: Man City fans name starting XI they want vs Tottenham

Manchester City will be going in search of a fifth successive win in all competitions when they welcome Tottenham Hotspur to the Etihad Stadium this teatime.

City, who were beaten 1-0 by Spurs on the opening day of the season back in August, continued their recent run of excellent form in spectacular fashion in midweek, beating Sporting Lisbon 5-0 in the first-leg of their Champions League last-16 showdown in Portugal.

Goals from Bernardo Silva (2), Riyad Mahrez, Phil Foden and Raheem Sterling wrapped up an emphatic win for the Blues, meaning they will be full of confidence for this teatime's Premier League clash with Antonio Conte's side.

A win for City, regardless of Liverpool's result earlier in the day against Norwich City, will see them maintain at least a nine-point gap at the summit, meaning today's results could go a long way in determining the make-up of the title race.

With the games continuing to come thick and fast, City boss Pep Guardiola is expected to remain without Jack Grealish, Cole Palmer and Gabriel Jesus, meaning it will be as you were in regards to the players the former Barcelona chief can pick from to name his starting line-up.

But how do City's supporters want to see Guardiola set his side up against Spurs? MEN Sport has taken a close look at what they have voted for using our interactive widget.

Goalkeeper - Ederson

There is no debate to be had about this area of the team. With 14 Premier League clean sheets to his name - and 15 in all competitions - this season, City's supporters want to see Brazilian shot-stopper Ederson start between the sticks.

He has been superb this season and has firmly cemented himself as one of the goalkeepers in the English top flight.

Defence - Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Aymeric Laporte, Joao Cancelo

Copy and paste. City's supporters want to see Guardiola name the exact same back-four that so comfortably earned City a clean sheet against Sporting in midweek.

The quartet cemented themselves, on paper, as City's best defensive rearguard and it is not very often that they get breached, especially on their own patch.

If Guardiola was to name the above back-four, it would see two changes made to the one that stifled Norwich City last weekend, with Laporte and Cancelo replacing Nathan Ake and Oleksandr Zinchenko.

Midfield - Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne

It is time for Guardiola to hit the copy and paste buttons again. The supporters want to see him name the exact same midfield trio that dominated proceedings in Portugal and understandably so.

Bernardo, of course, was the star of the show, scoring twice, whilst De Bruyne also caused his usual problems.

With no midweek fixture to come this week, Guardiola will probably have no concerns about throwing hell to the wind in pursuit of three points.

Attack - Riyad Mahrez, Phil Foden, Raheem Sterling

You guessed it, didn't you? It is time to hit those copy and paste keys again. The supporters want to see City sport a front-three of Mahrez, Foden and Sterling, meaning they will be hoping they can produce the same level of performance they each served up in Portugal.

All three of them have been in excellent form of late, especially Sterling, who has netted four goals in his last two games.

Foden has found the net in each of his last two outings as well, whilst Mahrez has netted five Premier League goals in his last six league games, highlighting the threat the trio pose when working in tandem.

Starting line-up City's supporters want to see vs Tottenham: Ederson; Walker, Dias, Laporte, Cancelo; Rodri, Bernardo, De Bruyne; Mahrez, Foden, Sterling.

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