Manchester City v Tottenham: Preview

Gareth Barry

 

Gareth Barry is expected to be available for Manchester City after recovering from what Roberto Mancini described as "a minor problem" at the weekend, with the Blues knowing victory will secure a place in next season's Champions League qualifiers at worst.

Skipper Carlos Tevez is expected to be named on the bench. The Argentinian was absent for the fourth game since injuring his hamstring at Liverpool when he missed Saturday's defeat at Everton but Mancini wants Tevez to prove his fitness ahead of next weekend's FA Cup final.

Mancini said: “I will tell the City fans to stay calm.

“We are not far from the Champions League – we have three games in which to get three points.

“And then the final is the final and in 90 minutes anything can happen. We know it will be difficult because the final is always difficult and Stoke are a strong team.”

Tottenham will be without several key players for the game.

Gareth Bale (ankle), Benoit Assou-Ekotto (hamstring) and Tom Huddlestone (ankle) are out while there are doubts over Peter Crouch (back) and Luka Modric (hip).

Steven Pienaar could miss out with an ankle problem and Jonathan Woodgate (calf), Ledley King (groin), Wilson Palacios and Alan Hutton (both knee) are all unavailable.

Manchester City (from): Hart, Given, Taylor, Richards, Zabaleta, Kompany, Lescott, Kolarov, Boyata, Wright-Phillips, Y Toure, De Jong, Vieira Milner, Barry, Johnson, Silva, Tevez, Dzeko, Balotelli, Jo, McGivern.

Tottenham Hotspur (from): Gomes, Cudicini, Pletikosa, Corluka, Bassong, Gallas, Dawson, Kaboul, Lennon, Kranjcar, Pienaar, Sandro, Modric, Jenas, Rose, Kranjcar, Van der Vaart, Defoe, Pavlyuchenko, Crouch.

City league form: WLWWL

Tottenham league form: WDDLD