Tottenham Hotspur predicted XI vs Man City: Two major changes made as key £65m duo return

Is there a task in English football as unenviable as hosting Manchester City in the FA Cup? Perhaps not. Tottenham Hotspur will face that exact tribulation on Friday evening, with Ange Postecoglou's men knowing that a defeat would bring to an end their most realistic hope of silverware this season.

Spurs edged past Burnley in the third round of the competition, courtesy of a Pedro Porro wonder strike, and have lost just one of their last seven outings across all competitions. They also boast an unusually good record against the champions, only losing once in their past five meetings with Pep Guardiola's men.

For their part, City caned Huddersfield Town in the third round, and haven't tasted defeat in any guise since December 6th when they lost to Aston Villa in the Premier League. But how will both sides line up in North London on Friday night? We've taken a closer look at their respective team news and predicted starting XIs below...

Tottenham Team News

For the first time in what feels like a long time, Tottenham have reasons to be positive on the injury front. Creative linchpin James Maddison is understood to be back in full training, and may even be fit enough to feature on Friday night, while Dejan Kulusevski should be back after overcoming an illness. Speaking about the duo in a press conference on Thursday, manager Ange Postecoglou said: "Dejan Kulusevksi has recovered from his illness and Madders has been training with us. He had a full training week so he is in a good place. We are getting the numbers back up."

Elsewhere, Ben Davies could be back in contention, as could wide man Ryan Sessegnon, while young striker Dane Scarlett, although unlikely to play much of a role, is another who is nearing a return to match fitness.

There is, however, less optimistic news with regards to Alejo Veliz, Manor Solomon, and Giovani Lo Celso - all of whom are set to miss out due to various complaints. As far as injuries go, the trio are Spurs' only confirmed concerns, although Postecoglou is also set to be without Pape Matar Sarr, Yves Bissouma, and Son Heung-min, with the former duo away at the African Cup of Nations, and the latter on international duty at the Asian Cup.

Tottenham Predicted XI

Guglielmo Vicario; Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Mickey van de Ven, Destiny Udogie; Rodrigo Bentancur, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, James Maddison; Dejan Kulusevski, Richarlison, Timo Werner.

Man City Team News

By comparison, Manchester City boast a relatively clean bill of health. The only players expected to definitely miss out on Friday's trip to the capital are Manuel Akanji and Erling Haaland, with the Norwegian striker still requiring a little more time to recover from a foot injury. Speaking on Thursday, Guardiola said: “He’s on the verge of coming back. Tomorrow, still he is not ready but he is close. Some training sessions he has trained in the last two days. It’s not perfect so we wait a little bit more."

There is better news regarding John Stones and Ederson, however, with both players set to be in contention for starting spots against Spurs. City are also fortunate enough to have no players away on international duty this month.

Man City Predicted XI

Ederson; Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol, Nathan Ake; Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Kevin de Bruyne; Phil Foden, Julian Alvarez, Jeremy Doku.