Manchester City dusted off their shock 1-2 loss against Lyon in the Champions League with a scintillating 5-0 win over newly promoted Premier League side Cardiff City. Pep Guardiola’s return to the touchline saw a number of City stars return to form as they blew away Neil Warnock’s entourage to keep pace with Liverpool and Chelsea at the top of the table.
The weekend will have been sweetened for the fans with arch-rivals Manchester United dropping points at home against high-flying Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Moving on from the Premier League, Pep has travelled to Milton Keynes with his squad as they face Oxford United in a couple of hours time. The travelling party is strong with just a few first-team stars missing. But Pep has hinted at wholesale changes as City begin their defence of the Carabao Cup- a cup they are very familiar with.
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Vincent Kompany, Ilkay Gundogan, Leroy Sane, Raheem Sterling, Kyle Walker, John Stones and Ederson were all pictured today morning along with youngsters such as Phil Foden, Brahim Diaz and Aro Muric. Zinchenko was also photographed with the team.
Amongst the players missing were Sergio Aguero, Fernandinho, Luke Bolton, Bernardo Silva and Fabian Delph.
There is also a promotion for Adrian Bernabe, who was signed from Barcelona this summer.
PREDICTED 4-3-3 MANCHESTER CITY XI VS OXFORD UNITED
DEFENCE
Aro Muric is in line for a start. He has created a lot of buzz ever since he was recalled by Pep following Bravo’s long-term injury.
Danilo is expected to make his first appearance of the season after recovering from injury. Vincent Kompany will surely start while John Stones should get some minutes. Otamendi and Laporte are expected to sit out.
At left-back, we can expect to see Zinchenko with Mendy out injured and Delph, not in the travelling party.
MIDFIELD
Phil Foden should start in midfield. Ilkay Gundogan is expected to sit at the base and orchestrate the play while David Silva will be fresh after a day off on the weekend.
FORWARD
The front three is expected to be power packed. Gabriel Jesus will start through the middle and will be desperate to get back to form. He has failed to get going this season and today will be a good opportunity. On the right, Riyad Mahrez is likely to start and he will look to add to his two goals from Saturday. Brahim Diaz will hope to get a rare game but Pep might well look at experience on the left.
