Pep Guardiola has explained why Kevin de Bruyne was rested for Manchester City’s Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur, while Phil Foden was absent entirely.
On Sunday, Manchester City traveled to north London with the goal of cutting Arsenal’s lead at the top of the Premier League to just two points.
The Gunners are vying for their first league title since 2004, but they were beaten by relegation-threatened Everton earlier this weekend.
Guardiola made four changes from the previous Premier League match, with De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, and Aymeric Laporte dropping to the bench.
Guardiola explained Foden’s absence by saying, ‘He was at the hotel. But he was sick all night – really, really sick.’
Guardiola also confirmed De Bruyne’s absence from Man City’s starting XI was tactical as the defending champions look to close the gap on Premier League leaders Arsenal to two points.
‘I am more focused on today than yesterday,’ he added. There has been no change. We must carry out our responsibilities.’
Manchester City will start Kyle Walker, Nathan Ake, Julian Alvarez, and Bernardo Silva, who have all started in their last four meetings with Tottenham.
Spurs’ starting lineup is unchanged from the previous Premier League game, which means new signing Pedro Porro will be on the bench against his former club.
Tottenham manager Antonio Conte was absent from Sunday’s game as he recovered from emergency gallbladder surgery in Italy.
‘Antonio is well, he is recovering at home,’ said Spurs assistant Cristian Stellini. We are disappointed because he will be watching the game at home because he is not with us.
‘He was involved all the way up until this morning. We don’t have a unique communication system, so it’s just me and Ryan (Mason, first-team coach), and the rest of the staff.
‘We’re ready to go. We discussed the team, and Antonio delegated the decision to me because I oversaw the training.
‘We must play with courage and aggression. There is increased responsibility. Every player must shoulder additional responsibility. It hasn’t been easy, but I’m looking forward to it.’
‘We have had a full week to prepare for the game,’ Tottenham captain Hugo Lloris added. We’ll miss our manager, but the coaching staff has prepared us well.’
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