Bale returns for Spurs against City

Gareth Bale returned to the Tottenham starting line-up for today’s crunch clash against Barclays Premier League champions Manchester City.

Aaron Lennon was left out of the squad after failing a fitness test while former City striker Emmanuel Adebayor was preferred to Jermain Defoe, who started on the bench.

City striker Edin Dzeko started ahead of Sergio Aguero, who was left on the bench, while David Silva did not make the squad after failing to overcome a hamstring injury.

Tottenham: Lloris, Walker, Dawson, Vertonghen, Assou-Ekotto, Sigurdsson, Dembele, Parker, Bale, Dempsey, Adebayor.

Subs: Friedel, Huddlestone, Naughton, Defoe, Holtby, Livermore, Caulker.

Man City: Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany, Nastasic, Clichy, Toure, Barry, Milner, Tevez, Nasri, Dzeko.

Subs: Pantilimon, Lescott, Sinclair, Kolarov, Javi Garcia, Aguero, Toure.

Referee: Lee Mason (Lancashire)