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A long run of games without a win in all competitions ended for Tottenham Hotspur in their last league match. They pulled off a win over a very solid Southampton team, both halting that slide and keeping their supporters from becoming horribly smug. Mauricio Pochettino was probably relieved. And, of course, we had to follow up that momentum boost with an international break.
Spurs come back from the interlull to find that a trip away to Manchester City is on their schedule. They have just as many players tired from traveling around the world and playing in internationals as we do, but it's still pretty crap timing for such a hard match, and you'll be hard pressed to find anyone who's genuinely picking Spurs to win.
Having said that, Stoke City have won at the Etihad this season, and in entirely deserving fashion. If they can do it, we can too. And if we do that, we might find ourselves in a top four spot at week's end.
When we last met
Tim Sherwood fielded a fairly sensible team that wasn't great, but held their own until a Danny Rose red card. Then everything fell apart, and Spurs eventually lost 5-1. This came just months after Andre Villas-Boas masterminded a 6-0 defeat against City. We really, really sucked against City last season.
Team news
We still don't know much about the status of our players that picked up knocks on international duty. All of Hugo Lloris, Nacer Chadli, Emmanuel Adebayor and Nabil Bentaleb are in doubt for this match. The club seemed most optimistic about Lloris, out of the group. Kyle Naughton's out for another week or so, while Kyle Walker should be back in early December.
City's injury list is pretty short. Samir Nasri and Eliaquim Mangala are both out for sure, while Fernandinho will probably be rested for Champions League. Yaya Toure was a doubt after playing for Ivory Coast in midweek, but Manuel Pellegrini says he'll suit up.
3 questions
1. Can we stop being overwhelmed by big teams? - Mauricio Pochettino has made a lot of excellent changes, and this team looks more composed than the ones from the last three years, but we still lost 4-0 to a Suarez-less Liverpool. Any non-blowout would be encouraging, to be honest.
2. Can whoever plays striker score a goal? - Maybe it's Emmanuel Adebayor, maybe it's Roberto Soldado and maybe it's Harry Kane. Whoever it is, it would be cool if they put the ball in the dang net.
3. How overwhelmed is Eric Dier at RB? - With time, Eric Dier might become a very good right back, but he isn't right now. And honestly, I think he's just going to be a central defender forever. He didn't even look great in this spot at U-21 level midweek, so let's hope he's at least adequate in this one. And if he isn't, I won't hold it against him. This isn't his fault.
Projected lineups
Tottenham Hotspur: Hugo Lloris; Danny Rose, Jan Vertonghen, Younes Kaboul, Eric Dier; Etienne Capoue, Ryan Mason; Andros Townsend, Christian Eriksen, Erik Lamela; Harry Kane
Manchester City: Joe Hart; Gael Clichy, Martin Demichelis, Vincent Kompany, Pablo Zabaleta; Yaya Toure, Fernando; David Silva, Sergio Aguero, James Milner; Edin Dzeko
How do I watch?
In the UK, BT Sport 1 is carrying the game on TV, so you can also watch on that network's streaming service. in the U.S., you can catch it on NBCSN in English and Mun2 in Spanish. There will be streams online at both NBCSports.com and Deportes Telemundo en vivo. In Canada, the game is on TSN1 and TSN's streaming service. In Australia, you can catch it on FOX Sports 1 and EPL On Demand.
Kickoff is at 12:45 p.m. local time, 7:45 a.m. ET from Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England.