Manchester City are back on the road tonight for their latest Carabao Cup clash.
After beating Watford 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium in the last round, City are taking on Tottenham Hotspur in the last 16 away from home.
With City having injury issues on a worrying scale at the moment, the Blues have still managed to head into this game in North London unbeaten across all competitions.
In the build-up to the match against Ange Postecoglou’s side, the announcement of City’s starting XI caused quite a stir on social media, with many supporters taking to X to share their thoughts.
Let’s take a look at what has been said.
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Man City supporters react to starting XI for Tottenham Hotspur clash
For the starting XI to take on Spurs, Pep Guardiola picked Stefan Ortega, Rico Lewis, Manuel Akanji, John Stones, Nathan Ake, Ilkay Gundogan, James McAtee, Nico O’Reilly, Matheus Nunes, Savinho and Phil Foden.
This then led to numerous City supporters wondering what sort of formation their side will be playing in and who will be the main focal attacking point in the absence of star striker Erling Haaland.
One user wrote: “Ilkay Gundogan as False nine????”
Along similar lines of Guardiola potentially using a false nine system without Haaland, another user said “Nunes false 9 Hattrick, I will be there.”
Sticking with the false nine theme, this user gave another suggestion, saying this on the matter: “Hopefully Mcatee as the false 9 and our Diamond as the No 10.”
However, another supporter suggested that Stones could be occupying the striker role in what would be a very radical move from Guardiola.
Although, Guardiola hinted at using Stones as a striker after he scored his third goal of the season in City’s 5-0 Champions League win over Sparta Prague, albeit in a joking manner.
Aside from the formation quandaries, one user was delighted to see two youngsters get the chance to start in the shape of McAtee and O’Reilly.
Regardless of the reactions to the starting XI, the two main objectives for City against Spurs are to win whilst avoiding any more injury issues that could scupper their season.
