Premier League

How injury-ravaged Man City could line-up versus Leicester

Pep Guardiola claimed this week that he only has 13 fit senior players available for the clash against the Foxes

 
1:00pm on Sunday 27th September 2020
By
Martin Macdonald

Pep Guardiola may have one of the most expensively assembled squads of all time at his disposal but if half of them are injured it still presents a quandary or two.

Last week, a few pundits suspected that City might struggle against Wolves due to their lack of pre-season, going far in the Champions League, and the fact they fielded an untested defensive duo of John Stones and Nathan Ake.

However, for the first 70 minutes at least, they looked sharp, intense, and hungry.

Kevin De Bruyne, in particular, was sensational as he ran the show from midfield.

Several changes were made for the League Cup midweek including the introduction of 17-year-old Liam Delap, son of Rory Delap, in the striker role. He marked his debut with a goal versus Bournemouth.

Expect the rotation to come back again full circle as Guardiola will likely field a very similar, if not the same, starting XI against Leicester as he did in the previous league match which was the aforementioned Wolves victory.

Sergio Aguero, Joao Cancelo, Bernardo Silva, Oleksandr Zinchenko, and Nicolas Otamendi are all injured, while Aymeric Laporte is not at full fitness after seeing his pre-season interrupted by a positive coronavirus test.

Ilkay Gundogan is also in a period of isolation after testing positive.

Man City continue to be linked with another central defender this summer, but until Jules Kounde or Kalidou Koulibaly arrive, even if they arrive, Stones will be given added responsibility as the senior centre-back next to Ake.

Fernandinho will partner De Bruyne in midfield, while Phil Foden, Raheem Sterling, and Riyad Mahrez will feature behind lone striker, Gabriel Jesus.

Manchester City: Squad List, Fixtures, Results and Ratings

Man City predicted XI v Leicester City:

MCFC - Football tactics and formations

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