Spurs predicted lineup vs Manchester City: No Conte? No problem

Predicted Spurs defence

It’ll be a back three for Spurs. Even though Conte won’t be there, they wouldn’t dare sway from his iconic defensive set-up. I mean, even after surgery, I wouldn’t mess with him – would you?!

The core of the defence is Christian Romero. The Argentine World Cup winner is the commander for Spurs, and one who will have a tough time facing Erling Haaland. However, if any Spurs player is up for the job this time around, you’d bet on it being Romero.

Joining Romero in the back three will be Eric Dier. The versatile Englishman will be key to overseeing pressure from the City attackers. Playing sometimes as a central midfielder, Dier knows all about intricate passing to make it out of a pressured situation – even if he does slip up, he has the defensive know-how to win back the ball. It’ll be interesting as well to see how Dier matches up to Haaland.

Then, it’ll be Ben Davies. Davies has been at Spurs long enough to prepare himself for matches like this. Davies will naturally drift out wide as he is excellent when running against opposing defenders. If he has the freedom to do so (which is a big ask against this City side), then he will drift out wide to give Spurs an extra element in defence.