Spurs under 23’s versus Manchester City: (match preview)

After an exhilarating first league campaign under head coach Wayne Burnett, Spurs under 23’s will play their final game of the PL2 season on Wednesday evening, when they host Manchester City at Broadhall Way. A campaign of many ups and downs, from staring relegation right in the face to going on a remarkable run which all started on a chilly evening at Old Trafford in January that saw them beat Manchester United 3-1. Burnett’s side who after beating Chelsea 2-1 in their previous fixture have secured their first division status for another season, will be able to experiment a bit more with his squad for the visit of the sky blues. Man City sit one place above us is in the table in eight after being in and around the middle of the table for the majority of the season, but a win for Spurs would see them leapfrog City in the table and finish the campaign in an impressive eight place, particularly impressive when you consider the fact that we were rock bottom in January. Despite leading by two goals during the reverse fixture up in Manchester in November, Spurs were pegged back by Simon Davies’ side and would go on to lose 4-2. Now looking to avenge that result and finish the season on a high, Burnett will be eager to maintain Spurs’ impressive eight game unbeaten. The visitors who have won their last three away matches, boast a plethora of talent with the likes of U17 World Cup winners Joel Latibeaudiere and Phil Foden on their books, City also have players such as Ian Poveda. A ridiculously skilful winger who they signed from Brentford in 2016, I saw Poveda play for England under 16’s a couple of years ago and was left amazed at what he could do with a football.

In addition to Poveda Man City also have the leagues joint top scorer in Lukas Nmecha who has scored 14 goals this season, as well as the mercurial talent that is Brahim Diaz. It will be a great experience for Burnett’s side who will likely be much changed from their 2-1 win over Chelsea, with game time for a number of under 18’s likely. There are also a fair few of our players out on trial with other clubs. Surely the prolific 34 goal as season Reo Griffiths will be given some game time? My in-depth match report will be out on Thursday. COYS

My predicted lineup: (4-2-3-1) Whiteman, Eyoma, Dinzeyi, Tanganga (c), Georgiou, Skipp, Duncan, S.Shashoua, Roles, Bennetts, Griffiths.

Subs from: Austin, Hinds, Edwards, Tracey, Sterling.

Doubtful: Tom Glover.

Injured/unavailable: Nick Tsaroulla, Brooklyn Lyons-Foster, Christian Maghoma and Joe Pritchard.

My score prediction: Spurs 3-2.

Previous meeting: Spurs 2-4.

One to watch: Due to his recent involvement in Pep Guardiola’s senior side it’s quite unlikely that the Stockport Iniesta will travel down to London for Wednesday evenings PL2 encounter. But if Phil Foden does travel with the City squad down to Stevenage, then the England youth starlet is bound to cause problems for Burnett’s side. A skilful midfielder with a great passing ability and eye for goal Foden is a special, special player.