Manchester City have conquered all before them over the past couple of years but on Thursday they will welcome the newly crowned Premier League champions Liverpool at the Etihad.
Pep Guardiola was quick to pay tribute to Jurgen Klopp and his players after Thursday’s defeat to Chelsea sealed Liverpool’s fate, but his personal pride will have been dented by relinquishing the title.
To rub salt into the wound, City will give Liverpool a guard of honour before kick-off and given the winning mentality instilled in Guardiola’s squad, a defiant performance seems inevitable.
Although Guardiola is likely to rotate his side frequently until the end of the season, his big hitters will surely be included against Liverpool as City set out to inflict only a second league defeat of the campaign on their visitors.
One player unlikely to feature, though, is Leroy Sane after Guardiola admitted “it looks like he is going to go to [Bayern] Munich” in his pre-match press conference on Wednesday.
Here’s how Guardiola could set City up at the Etihad.
Defence
As he did at Barcelona with Javier Mascherano and Bayern Munich with Javi Martinez, Guardiola has successfully converted Fernandinho from a holding midfielder to a centre-back this season.
Losing the Brazilian to suspension against Liverpool, therefore, is a big blow. On the plus side, Aymeric Laporte played 90 minutes for the first time since August during Sunday’s stroll in St James’ Park against Newcastle.
Considering John Stones hasn’t played since the restart, it looks as though Nicolas Otamendi and fit-again Eric Garcia will compete for the vacant spot alongside Laporte, with Ederson sweeping up behind.
Given his superior experience, Kyle Walker could get the nod over Joao Cancelo at right-back, while Oleksandr Zinchenko may be selected ahead of Benjamin Mendy on the left after his gaffe against Chelsea.
Expected starters: Ederson, Walker, Otamendi, Laporte, Zinchenko
Midfield
Kevin De Bruyne has maintained his sensational pre-lockdown form since the restart and looks to be in peak physical condition having featured from the start in three of City’s four matches.
Guardiola will pick and choose David Silva’s starts carefully between now and the end of the season and Ilkay Gundogan’s athleticism may be preferred to the Spaniard’s wizardry against Liverpool’s all-action midfield.
Rodri has only completed 90 minutes once in City’s three league matches but his positional sense and ability to snuff out danger will be useful against such a dangerous attack.
Expected starters: Rodri, De Bruyne, Gundogan
Attack
Guardiola is unlikely to risk Sane given his imminent move to Bayern while Sergio Aguero will play no part in proceedings after undergoing knee surgery last week.
Nevertheless, there is plenty of competition at the top end of the pitch with Riyad Mahrez and Phil Foden excelling since the return and Raheem Sterling scoring a peach against Newcastle.
Gabriel Jesus and Bernardo Silva haven’t been quite as impressive as their teammates and may have to settle for places on the substitutes bench.
With Jesus struggling for form, Sterling could be deployed as a False 9 once more.
Expected starters: Mahrez, Foden, Sterling
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from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3gnblWF
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