Manchester City look to break out of their five-game losing slump with a visit from Dutch giants Feyenoord on Tuesday evening in the UEFA Champions League.
Pep Guardiola’s side have struggled as of late, suffering defeats in a staggering five straight matches across all competitions – a record losing run for the Catalan coach, including his previous tenures at Bayern Munich and FC Barcelona.
The Etihad Stadium outfit made the simple things look difficult over the weekend as they suffered a 0-4 home defeat at the hands of Tottenham, seeing the gap between themselves and Premier League leaders Liverpool grow to eight points ahead of their meeting on Sunday.
With plenty of injuries and a swathe of out-of-form players to deal with, Guardiola will have his hands full when it comes to picking a starting line-up in a potentially must-win game against 16-time Dutch champions Feyenoord on Tuesday evening.
Alongside their losing run across competitions, City will be desperate to return to winning ways in Europe’s premier club tournament, having suffered a 4-1 loss at the hands of Sporting CP in Lisbon prior to the November international break.
Overlooking the injury situation, which has taken on a mixed bag of developments in recent days, we will pick through the weeds to try and predict how the Manchester City manager might set his side up for the important continental clash.
Predicted XI
Ederson has perhaps been Manchester City’s player of the season so far having significantly impressed in the shot-stopping department in particular, but we expect Pep Guardiola to stay true to Stefan Ortega Moreno as largely the side’s cup keeper this season.
In defence, Kyle Walker has been suspect as of late, particularly when called upon in defensive scenarios, so we could see Rico Lewis move back to his traditional right-back role from the weekend’s operation in midfield.
Centre-back is Manchester City’s most injury-hit position at the moment, and as a result we may see the return of Nathan Ake alongside Manuel Akanjidespite the former potentially not being fully-fit himself.
As usual, If Guardiol should occupy the left defensive flank with little to no back-up for the Croatian at present, and his form both defensively and offensively impressing onlookers across competitions.
Against Tottenham, Manchester City’s midfield was as porous as we have seen in the Pep Guardiola era, and something must give. With the majority of the wingers now back fit, it may finally be time to see Matheus Nunes in the midfield for some added young legs.
The Portugal international will likely be joined by Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne in the centre of the park, with the latter looking to find Erling Haaland in space and develop his own match sharpness following injury frustration.
On the wings, Savinho has been bright but simply cannot find the back of the net so far in a Manchester City. Despite that, he should keep his spot on the right-wing as Guardiola looks to hand some much-needed rest to Bernardo Silva in particular.
In the striker role, and with Manchester City having no traditional options to support the Norwegian international, Erling Haaland will keep his spot down the middle as he looks to pick up his form in front of goal for the club.
On the other flank, it is finally time for the return of Jack Grealish after he made a brief appearance during the closing exchanges of the weekend’s loss, marking the end of his injury and fitness frustration over recent weeks.
Predicted XI: Ortega Moreno; Lewis, Akanji, Ake, Guardiol; Nunes, Gundogan, De Bruyne; Savinho, Haaland Grealish.
Substitutes: Ederson, Walker, Simpson-Pusey, Dias, Wilson-Esbrand, Wright, O'Reilly, Bernardo, McAtee, Foden, Doku.
