Manchester City travel to France to continue their Champions League campaign as they take on Marseille tomorrow, and they will do so without one of their star players.
City had a rather disappointing outing in the Premier League over the weekend as they could only manage a draw against West Ham United. They went down to a goal from Michail Antonio ,but later hit back with an equaliser from Phil Foden.
One of the major consequences during the game was star forward Sergio Aguero having to be subbed off after 45 minutes. It did not look good for the Argentine and it was later confirmed by Pep Guardiola, who said the striker had a hamstring problem.
They will have to find a solution to their injury depletion issues at centre forward, and now we’ll look at how they could line up in France. Expect their usual 4-3-3 formation, with Ederson in goal. Kyle Walker and Joao Cancelo would once again be the full backs.
As for the centre backs, there will probably be a change. There are doubts over the fitness of both Aymeric Laporte and Nathan Ake. This opens the door for John Stones to make a return to the starting eleven. He will be partnered with Ruben Dias, the recent arrival from Benfica.
The manager has to focus on rotation with the midfield three as well with Kevin De Bruyne still not available. Goal scorer from Saturday Phil Foden will take up one of the three spots and the other spots could be taken up by Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva. The German will have to fight for that spot with Rodri and it will be interesting to see what direction Guardiola goes with.
In attack, the absence of Aguero is a big blow but Manchester City do have players to provide cover. The most likely option is to use Raheem Sterling as a false nine so as to lure the Marseille defenders into making a mistake with his movement. On either side of him will be Riyad Mahrez and Ferran Torres.
There is enough pace and skill in this City team to get them the three points and the manager will be hoping this happens.
Predicted Manchester City Starting XI Against Marseille (4-3-3):
Ederson, Kyle Walker, John Stones, Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo, Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden, Riyad Mahrez, Raheem Sterling, Ferran Torres