Before kick-off at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola was asked to explain his decisions to omit Kevin De Bruyne from the starting line-up and leave Phil Foden out entirely against Spurs.
The reigning champions have failed to win all four previous visits to Tottenham's home ground since moving there in 2019 - once in the Champions League and three times in the Premier League. Therefore, it came as a shock to many to see two huge names not involved from the off.
Guardiola is of course known to regularly tinker with his team, particular in recent weeks after going in hard on his own players following the meeting between these two clubs last month at the Etihad Stadium as he challenged them to rediscover the "fire" he feels they have lost this season.
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Vice-captain De Bruyne had also been benched in the last head-to-head, so when questioned on Sky Sports if this was a tactical call, the Spaniard provided a snappy, one-word response with a smile on his face: "Definitely."
Foden is another player to suffer his manager's rotational wrath this campaign, having been undroppable during the charge to a fourth top-flight title in five years last year.
The England international has been overtaken in the pecking order by fellow countryman Jack Grealish since the FIFA World Cup, and has not featured since defeat in the Manchester derby over three weeks ago. Last time against Antonio Conte's side he never made it off the bench, was then left out against Wolves, before injury prevented an FA Cup appearance against Arsenal.
However, Guardiola provided an entirely different reasoning as to why Foden would not make his return to action today.
"He was there yesterday in the hotel," the City boss explained. "He felt unwell all night. Really, really bad, and [we decided] he should come back to Manchester."
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