Manchester City will be traveling to Sheffield United on Saturday to continue their Premier League campaign and they might have an important defender back in the team.
City come into this game on the back of an impressive result in France. They went to Marseille in their Champions League group stage game and came away with a 3-0 win. There were goals from Ferran Torres, Ilkay Gundogan and Raheem Sterling. So for this weekend, how many changes will Pep Guardiola will be making to the one that looked so good on the pitch on Wednesday.
As for the team news, Nathan Ake will be assessed just ahead of the game’s kickoff and could return to the starting line-up.
The players that definitely won’t be involved are Sergio Aguero, Fernandinho, Gabriel Jesus and Benjamin Mendy who are all out injured long term.
With City set to start in their usual 4-3-3 formation, it will be Ederson in goal. In the full back area, there will be one change with Joao Cancelo coming in to replace Oleksandr Zinchenko. Kyle Walker will continue his place on the right-hand side.
In the centre, the combination will depend on the fitness of Ake. If the Dutchman is not fully fit, we will once again be seeing Ruben Dias and Aymeric Laporte play together. The return of Kevin De Bruyne to the starting eleven was a huge boost for City and he will certainly be starting against Sheffield. There will be one change in midfield from the team that beat Marseille with Phil Foden replacing Gundogan.
The Englishman has been hugely impressive this season and will move to a deeper role than the one he played on Wednesday.
Partnering these two will be Rodri who will be tasked with protecting the defence.
Ahead of them, the front three will have to be shuffled around due to the absence of both Aguero and Jesus.
With Foden dropping deeper, it opens up an opportunity for Bernardo Silva to be back in the team. Ferran Torres will be given a break and Sterling will be asked to play centrally and be the focal point.
Finishing off this front three will be the Algerian Riyad Mahrez. The interchanging between the players will be the key in getting Manchester City the win.
Predicted Manchester City Starting XI Against Sheffield United (4-3-3):
Ederson, Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Aymeric Laporte, Joao Cancelo, Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden, Riyad Mahrez, Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva