Tottenham‘s new stadium will get its first taste of Champions League football when Manchester City arrive on Tuesday night for the first leg of their quarter-final tie.
Encounters between the two sides have often produced fascinating tactical battles and this one should be no different.
Here, we look at the key tactics Pep Guardiola may employ to get the better of Mauricio Pochettino.
Click here for Tottenham’s key tactics.
BYPASSING THE PRESS
Tottenham will attempt to use a high-press against City but Guardiola has found ways to bypass that previously. Spurs are well organised and can press City’s back-line with a level of sophistication but Ederson is one of the best keepers with the ball at his feet.
The Brazilian custodian is capable of negating the press with his array of long passes which he usually hits with unerring accuracy.
That’s precisely what happened when Spurs visited the Etihad last season. The full-backs will hug the touchline to provide options but Ederson isn’t afraid to fizz passes into a free central midfielder, possibly even initiating an attack in the process.
MANIPULATING THE DEFENCE
Where a Guardiola team often excels over other possession-heavy sides is movement in the final third. While Spurs’ three-man central defence is meant to help cope with City’s various attackers, it presents the opportunity for Guardiola’s side to disrupt the defensive line.
Sergio Aguero is notorious for dragging a centre-back along with him when showing for the ball, allowing Raheem Sterling to run in behind.
Meanwhile, the Englishman has increasingly popped up in central areas over the last couple of seasons and even if Benjamin Mendy doesn’t play, David Silva still makes runs down the outside to scramble the back-line and that inevitably creates space to run behind with one of the defenders often playing an attacker onside.
