Manchester City will face struggling Bundesliga side Schalke in a few hours time as they look to make an entry into the last eight of the UEFA Champions League.
City emerged 3-2 winners in the first leg when a late Sane-Sterling show made sure the away side did not suffer the consequences of playing with a man less. And while 3 away goals make for good reading, the events from last week which saw historic comeback wins by Ajax and Manchester United will make sure Pep shelves any possible premature rotation plans.
MANCHESTER CITY TEAM NEWS
Nicolas Otamendi is suspended for this clash after picking up two yellows in the first leg. John Stones took part in training while Vincent Kompany was conspicuous by his absence, thus raising doubts over his availability.
Benjamin Mendy, Kevin de Bruyne and Fernandinho will miss this game while Claudio Bravo and Eliaquim Mangala are long term absentees.
PREDICTED MANCHESTER CITY LINEUP vs SCHALKE (4-3-3)
DEFENCE
Ederson will start in goal. He would have been disappointed to have failed to keep a clean sheet against Watford despite the domination City had and will look to keep out the German side tonight.
Kyle Walker should line up at right-back. The English defender has not caught the eye as much as last season but has been solid in recent weeks.
Otamendi’s suspension and Kompany’s likely absence will see a return to the side for the duo of John Stones and Aymeric Laporte.
Oleksandr Zinchenko should continue at left-back given his sterling form. The FA Cup fixture against Swansea City is expected to see a number of changes to the lineup.
MIDFIELD
We expect the midfield to remain unchanged. In this must-win match, given the injuries to De Bruyne and Fernandinho, there is hard to find a better alternative to the trio of Ilkay Gundogan, David Silva and Bernardo Silva.
ATTACK
Saturday’s hat-trick hero Raheem Sterling has to start this game. He is City’s in-form player right now and will be backed to get on the score sheet once again.
Riyad Mahrez is slowly finding his rhythm and Pep should give him another start to see where it leads to for the Algerian, who has had a difficult time settling in since his record-breaking move in the summer.
Sergio Aguero is expected to start up top with Gabriel Jesus likely to feature from the get-go against Swansea City.
