Match preview, predictions and live scores for the 4th place decider at Eastlands, Manchester City v Tottenham Hotspur. Kick off is at 20:00PM.
It's D-Day for Manchester City and Tottenham as a 38-game Premier League season effectively comes down to this one showdown at Eastlands.
Victory for either would almost guarantee them fourth place in the Premier League and a lucrative spot in next season's Champions League.
Just one point separates current incumbents Spurs from City, so this is a must-win game for both clubs at a vital point in the season.
City warmed up for this massive game with a 3-1 victory over Aston Villa on Saturday which ended the sixth-placed Midlands club's hopes of fourth spot.
Their attacking trio of Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor and Craig Bellamy were all on the mark as City followed up a meek goalless draw with Arsenal and derby defeat to Manchester United in successive weekends with a performance to silence their doubters.
Immediately afterwards, manager Roberto Mancini set his sights on Spurs and it is no surprise with rumours continuing to circle that his stay at Eastlands will last just half a season should he fail to secure Champions League football for an ambitious board.
Veteran midfielder Patrick Vieira produced his best performance since joining in January and the former Arsenal skipper will be hoping to put one over Tottenham on Wednesday night.
However, Mancini is fighting the tide of a lengthy injury list with the likes of Shay Given (shoulder), Joleon Lescott (hamstring) and Martin Petrov (knee) all out and England midfielder Gareth Barry struggling to shake off a hamstring problem.
Tottenham also have a major injury concern of their own ahead of the trip to Manchester as number one goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes picked up a worrying groin knock in the closing stages of Saturday's 1-0 victory over Bolton Wanderers.
Youngster Ben Alnwick may have to be thrown into the fray of Spurs' biggest game in years should the Brazilian not recover in time.
Spurs though will certainly arrive in good form having defeated Arsenal and league leaders Chelsea before losing 3-1 at Manchester United ten days ago.
Most pundits had written off the chances of Harry Redknapp's side emerging from a horrendous run of fixtures still in the running for fourth place so confidence is certainly high at White Hart Lane.
Niko Kranjcar (ankle), Jonathan Woodgate (groin) and Carlo Cudicini (broken wrist) all definitely miss out with season-ending injuries while Vedran Corluka is a doubt with a sprained ankle.
Tottenham were comfortable 3-0 winners earlier in the season after two goals from Kranjcar and Jermain Defoe separated the sides in mid-December.
The defeat at White Hart Lane was also the final straw for the City board as they sacked Mark Hughes as manager just three days later - with rumours of impending firing coming during the following 4-3 home win over Sunderland.
Spurs won both encounters between these two clubs by 2-1 scorelines last season, while both won their home game by the same margin during the 2007-08 campaign.
In fact 2-1 seems to be a popular scoreline with seven of the last 12 encounters ending that way.
Preview text- http://sportbox.tv/football/news/story.php?id=3080237
Manchester City Line Up
Fulop
Zabaleta
Bridge
Toure
Kompany
De Jong
Barry
Johnson
Bellamy
Adebayor
Tevez
Tottenham Line Up
Gomes
Kaboul
Assou Ekotto
Dawson
King
Huddlestone
Modric
Lennon
Bale
Defoe
Crouch
• Tottenham have won 11 of the last 12 meetings between the sides in all competitions, and 10 of the last 11 in the Premier League.
• City's only league win against Spurs in the last seven years was the 2-1 home victory in March 2008. City's scorers that day were Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha
• City have lost just six Premier League games this season. They have never lost fewer than seven top flight games in a season.
• City have only won three of their last six home matches in the Premier League.
• City's top scorer Carlos Tevez, who could make his 100th Premier League start, needs one more goal to bring up his half century in the Premier League.
• Tottenham have won eight of their last 10 league games and scored in all of the last 10.
• Spurs have won just two of their eight away games in the Premier League since Christmas - at Stoke and Wigan.
• Spurs have won all 17 league games in which they have led at half-time.
Manchester City
Tevez: 29 goals (23 league); Adebayor: 14 goals (14 league)
Tottenham
Defoe: 24 goals (18 league); Crouch: 12 goals (7 league)
Referee: Steve Bennett
Assistant referees: Jake Collin & Martin Yerby
Fourth official: Lee Probert
Man City (W3-1 v Aston Villa, h): Fulop, Zabaleta, Toure, Kompany, Bridge, Adam Johnson (Wright-Phillips 77), De Jong, Vieira, Bellamy, Adebayor, Tevez (Richards 88). Subs not used: Nielsen, Onuoha, Santa Cruz, Garrido, Sylvinho.
Tottenham (W1-0 v Bolton, h): Kaboul, Dawson, King, Assou-Ekotto, Bentley (Lennon 73), Huddlestone, Modric, Bale, Pavlyuchenko (Gudjohnsen 87), Defoe (Crouch 72). Subs not used: Alnwick, Jenas, Palacios, Bassong.
THIS THREAD WILL BE UPDATED WITH TEAM NEWS, LINEUPS AND SCORELINES BY ME.
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Latest Scoreline
Manchester City 0 - 1 Tottenham Hotspur
Peter Crouch 82nd minute.
Peter Crouch 82nd minute.
FULL TIME.
SPURS ARE IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE.
CITY HAVE BALLSED IT UP, NOT FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS SEASON.
sorry, angry.
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SPURS ARE IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE.
CITY HAVE BALLSED IT UP, NOT FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS SEASON.
sorry, angry.
_______
Match Preview
It's D-Day for Manchester City and Tottenham as a 38-game Premier League season effectively comes down to this one showdown at Eastlands.
Victory for either would almost guarantee them fourth place in the Premier League and a lucrative spot in next season's Champions League.
Just one point separates current incumbents Spurs from City, so this is a must-win game for both clubs at a vital point in the season.
City warmed up for this massive game with a 3-1 victory over Aston Villa on Saturday which ended the sixth-placed Midlands club's hopes of fourth spot.
Their attacking trio of Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor and Craig Bellamy were all on the mark as City followed up a meek goalless draw with Arsenal and derby defeat to Manchester United in successive weekends with a performance to silence their doubters.
Immediately afterwards, manager Roberto Mancini set his sights on Spurs and it is no surprise with rumours continuing to circle that his stay at Eastlands will last just half a season should he fail to secure Champions League football for an ambitious board.
Veteran midfielder Patrick Vieira produced his best performance since joining in January and the former Arsenal skipper will be hoping to put one over Tottenham on Wednesday night.
However, Mancini is fighting the tide of a lengthy injury list with the likes of Shay Given (shoulder), Joleon Lescott (hamstring) and Martin Petrov (knee) all out and England midfielder Gareth Barry struggling to shake off a hamstring problem.
Tottenham also have a major injury concern of their own ahead of the trip to Manchester as number one goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes picked up a worrying groin knock in the closing stages of Saturday's 1-0 victory over Bolton Wanderers.
Youngster Ben Alnwick may have to be thrown into the fray of Spurs' biggest game in years should the Brazilian not recover in time.
Spurs though will certainly arrive in good form having defeated Arsenal and league leaders Chelsea before losing 3-1 at Manchester United ten days ago.
Most pundits had written off the chances of Harry Redknapp's side emerging from a horrendous run of fixtures still in the running for fourth place so confidence is certainly high at White Hart Lane.
Niko Kranjcar (ankle), Jonathan Woodgate (groin) and Carlo Cudicini (broken wrist) all definitely miss out with season-ending injuries while Vedran Corluka is a doubt with a sprained ankle.
Tottenham were comfortable 3-0 winners earlier in the season after two goals from Kranjcar and Jermain Defoe separated the sides in mid-December.
The defeat at White Hart Lane was also the final straw for the City board as they sacked Mark Hughes as manager just three days later - with rumours of impending firing coming during the following 4-3 home win over Sunderland.
Spurs won both encounters between these two clubs by 2-1 scorelines last season, while both won their home game by the same margin during the 2007-08 campaign.
In fact 2-1 seems to be a popular scoreline with seven of the last 12 encounters ending that way.
Preview text- http://sportbox.tv/football/news/story.php?id=3080237
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Team Lineups
Manchester City Line Up
Fulop
Zabaleta
Bridge
Toure
Kompany
De Jong
Barry
Johnson
Bellamy
Adebayor
Tevez
Tottenham Line Up
Gomes
Kaboul
Assou Ekotto
Dawson
King
Huddlestone
Modric
Lennon
Bale
Defoe
Crouch
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Other Information
Head-to-head
• Tottenham have won 11 of the last 12 meetings between the sides in all competitions, and 10 of the last 11 in the Premier League.
• City's only league win against Spurs in the last seven years was the 2-1 home victory in March 2008. City's scorers that day were Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha
Manchester City
• City have lost just six Premier League games this season. They have never lost fewer than seven top flight games in a season.
• City have only won three of their last six home matches in the Premier League.
• City's top scorer Carlos Tevez, who could make his 100th Premier League start, needs one more goal to bring up his half century in the Premier League.
Tottenham
• Tottenham have won eight of their last 10 league games and scored in all of the last 10.
• Spurs have won just two of their eight away games in the Premier League since Christmas - at Stoke and Wigan.
• Spurs have won all 17 league games in which they have led at half-time.
Harry Rednkapp said:
LEADING GOALSCORERS
Manchester City
Tevez: 29 goals (23 league); Adebayor: 14 goals (14 league)
Tottenham
Defoe: 24 goals (18 league); Crouch: 12 goals (7 league)
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Steve Bennett
Assistant referees: Jake Collin & Martin Yerby
Fourth official: Lee Probert
LAST LEAGUE MATCH LINE-UPS
Man City (W3-1 v Aston Villa, h): Fulop, Zabaleta, Toure, Kompany, Bridge, Adam Johnson (Wright-Phillips 77), De Jong, Vieira, Bellamy, Adebayor, Tevez (Richards 88). Subs not used: Nielsen, Onuoha, Santa Cruz, Garrido, Sylvinho.
Tottenham (W1-0 v Bolton, h): Kaboul, Dawson, King, Assou-Ekotto, Bentley (Lennon 73), Huddlestone, Modric, Bale, Pavlyuchenko (Gudjohnsen 87), Defoe (Crouch 72). Subs not used: Alnwick, Jenas, Palacios, Bassong.
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THIS THREAD WILL BE UPDATED WITH TEAM NEWS, LINEUPS AND SCORELINES BY ME.
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