Manchester City return to Premier League action as they host Leeds United on Saturday. Given what we know of the team news, what kind of squad will Pep Guardiola be putting out on the pitch for this game?
City got their Champions League quarterfinal off to the right start as they beat Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in the first leg. They will obviously want to keep the momentum train rolling at the weekend and move themselves closer to securing the league title here.
Leeds United, under Marcelo Bielsa, are very capable of producing some attacking brilliance, but they haven’t been to do it consistently enough. City will fancy their chances, given the form that they are in right now, of getting another three points here.
Pep Guardiola will have his players line up in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Ederson in goal. We can expect a couple of changes to the defence. Joao Cancelo and John Stones will be the ones to drop to the bench. Benjamin Mendy will join Kyle Walker as the full backs and it will be Aymeric Laporte replacing Stones as the centre back, who will be partnering with Ruben Dias.
In central midfield, one of Ilkay Gundogan or Rodri would be rested with the Spaniard being the most likely one. This will give Fernandinho the chance to come into the team. The Brazilian will be alongside Gundogan who is having an incredible season.
The trio playing ahead of them will look to get City beyond the opposition defence. This will consist of Raheem Sterling, Ferran Torres and Bernardo Silva. On Tuesday, Silva started up top, but for this game he will drop a bit deeper.
And with the pace that Sterling and Torres offer, it makes the hosts that much more potent. If they are able to beat the press of Leeds, they will have a lot of space to work with and that is going to lead to goals.
Sergio Aguero will lead the line for Manchester City. Given that the forward is leaving at the end of the season, he will want to score as many goals as he can before departing.
Guardiola will also be keen on getting the win against one of his mentors.
Predicted Manchester City Starting XI Against Leeds United (4-2-3-1):
Ederson, Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Aymeric Laporte, Benjamin Mendy, Fernandinho, Ilkay Gundogan, Ferran Torres, Bernardo Silva, Raheem Sterling, Sergio Aguero