Tottenham vs Man City: Ange Postecoglou warns Spurs over Kevin De Bruyne 'trap'

Ange Postecoglou is relishing the challenge of facing Manchester City in the FA Cup tonight and promised Tottenham "will have a crack" at the holders.

Spurs are aiming to maintain their excellent home record against City, who are still to score at their new stadium, and put the first dent in Pep Guardiola's defence of the Treble in the fourth-round tie.

Postecoglou's side are set to welcome back James Maddison from injury but City talisman Kevin De Bruyne could make his first start since August - with the Tottenham head coach warning that his side will "fall into a trap" if they focus too closely on the Belgian.

Spurs earned a last-gasp point at the Etihad Stadium in a thrilling 3-3 draw last month, when they were missing Maddison and used full-backs Emerson Royal and Ben Davies in the middle of the back four.

Postecoglou expects more goals tonight and believes his side can match the English and European champions.

"You can't script it, so it's probably going to end up being 0-0 and fairly dull! But I do [relish these occasions]," Postecoglou told Standard Sport.

"I loved the 3-3 at their place. It was a cracking game. There were so many storylines within the game, I loved that.

"That's what I love about football and that's what you want. Obviously you want to win because that makes you feel better about what's happened but you're playing arguably the best side in the world and we feel like we can have a crack at them. We will, and we'll see what the outcome is.

"I'll be surprised if there's no goals tonight," he added. "I think it will be a great challenge and it should be a cracking game. Both teams are looking forward to seeing how we match up."

Maddison's return is a major boost for Spurs, who also have Dejan Kulusevski available again after illness, but City were transformed by De Bruyne's return to the Premier League in the 3-2 win over Newcastle last time out.

He made a goal and scored another in a 20-minute cameo, but Postecoglou wants Spurs to focus on City as a team.

"He's an outstanding footballer, one of those guys you just love to watch - apart from if you're playing against him," he said.

"If you fall into the trap of thinking that's the key to stopping this Manchester City team, that's where you trip up. They've got quality all over the place where they can hurt you.

"Fair to say in my coaching journey, whenever I've got into the big tournaments, I've gone in as the underdog and I've always felt the only chance we've got is doing things collectively. If we start to individualise things, we've got no chance.

"That's the beauty of football. Ultimately, it's not one against one, it's 11 against 11. If you can maintain that through the course of a game and minimise the influence of individuals as a collective, you have a better chance of success.

"If we try to stop Kevin and ignore Phil Foden or Bernardo [Silva] or - oh don't make me name them, I'll go through the whole team - we'll fall into a trap."

Postecoglou has said that Maddison is "ready to start" and believes he "will want to make up for lost time" following a three-month layoff with ankle ligament damage.

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou

Asked if Maddison could have a similar impact as De Bruyne at St James' Park, the Australian said: "I don’t want to put those expectations [on him].

"But I know what Madders expects. And in training, you wouldn’t know that he’s missed so much. The quality is there straight away and everyone notices it. And he’s looking good physically.

"He’s the kind of guy who will want to make up for lost time and come back in and make an impact straight away."

Spurs captain Heung-min Son is still at the Asian Cup with South Korea, and Mali's Yves Bissouma and Senegal midfielder Pape Sarr remain at the Africa Cup of Nations. Giovani Lo Celso (muscle), Manor Solomon and Alejo Veliz (both knee) are sidelined, along with Ryan Sessegnon.