Manchester City kick off their FA Cup campaign as they take on Birmingham City on Sunday. There are a lot of players who could be missing, so let us take a look at the team news. (For our starting XI prediction go here)
City crossed a major hurdle on Wendesday night as they overcame local rivals Manchester United in the semi-finals of the EFL cup. On Sunday, they will be looking to start a new competition, one where they reached the semi-finals last year, with a win.
Pep Guardiola will have quite a few decisions to make as there are a lot of people missing out due to injury or illness. This includes Ederson, Eric Garcia and Ferran Torres, none of which will be taking part on Sunday.
There are a couple of additional injury concerns as both Aymeric Laporte and Nathan Ake each have a niggle. A decision will be made on both as kickoff approaches. One bit of good news is that Kyle Walker has returned to the team following a bout of Coronavirus.
The City boss is someone who always takes the domestic cup competitions seriously and for that reason alone, we should be expecting to see a strong team. There may be a few youngsters getting a start here, but they will still have a ton of talent on the pitch.
For the Manchester side to easily get the win, they will have to focus on what their midfield is able to do. If they can find the wingers and centre forward on a regular basis, it will be difficult for Birmingham to handle.
City will be looking at a player such as Sergio Aguero to lead from the front and get the goals as well. The Argentine has had a tough time dealing with injuries this season so this will be a great opportunity for him to be his old self.
Manchester City will feel confident of getting the win on Sunday. They have enough talent in their team to get the job done. Even if they were to make a lot of changes to their squad, Birmingham City will have trouble dealing with them. City can look forward to advancing to the next round by putting on a strong showing.