Manchester City will look to add yet another trophy to their cabinet when they meet Watford in the FA Cup final on Saturday.
The Sky Blues became the first side since Sir Alex Ferguson-led Manchester United to retain the Premier League crown last weekend. But, they will face a tricky test against the Hornets tomorrow.
Manchester City team news
Benjamin Mendy remains injured and won’t feature against Watford this weekend. He joins Claudio Bravo in Manchester City’s list of absentees going into this fixture. Fernandinho is a doubt and is likely to feature on the bench.
Predicted Manchester City lineup vs Watford (4-3-3)
Defence
Pep Guardiola is unlikely to make any changes to the side’s defence that secured the Premier League title against Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend.
That means Kyle Walker will retain his role at right-back. The English international will continue to operate in a slightly deeper role in order to help out the two central defenders.
Oleksandr Zinchenko, meanwhile, will look to provide extensive attacking support from the left-back position. The Ukrainian has emerged as a key player for Manchester City and will be keen to end his campaign on a positive note.
In central defence, Vincent Kompany should partner Aymeric Laporte, both of who will be key in dealing with the sharp Watford attack tomorrow.
Ederson will keep his place in between the sticks for Manchester City. The Brazilian international will expect a busy afternoon against a Watford side who possess immense counter-attacking threat.
Midfield
Ilkay Gundogan starred in the 4-1 win over Brighton last weekend. And we expect the German international to retain his place in central midfield, ahead of Fernandinho.
Gundogan might be partnered by David Silva and Kevin de Bruyne who is fit to feature. It will be interesting to see how the Belgian fares against a dynamic Watford press.
Attack
The return of de Bruyne could force Bernardo Silva to shift to a wider role. Hence, we expect the Portuguese international to start on the right-wing. He will look to create passing triangles with the fullbacks and the midfielders and create more opportunities in the final third.
If Pep does play Kevin, Riyad Mahrez might be the unlucky one to miss out.
The opposite flank will be occupied by Raheem Sterling, whose pace and dynamism is sure to cause problems for the Watford backline.
And finally, the Manchester City attack will be led by Sergio Aguero. The Argentine has been involved in as many as 42 goals in all competitions this season. And stopping him could be imperative if Watford are to have any hopes of winning the FA Cup this weekend.
