Manchester City will face another massive test of their resolve and quality when they host Leicester City at the Etihad Stadium later tonight.
A fighting and a tad lucky 3-2 win for Liverpool against Newcastle United took them once more above City in the table and now the pressure is on Pep Guardiola and co. to conjure another win against a dangerous looking Leicester City outfit.
Brendan Rodgers has visibly had an impact ever since his appointment as the manager and given his past history with Liverpool, might just want that win a tad bit extra than he might have under normal circumstances.
18-goal striker Jamie Vardy is back to his best and with 5 wins out of 8 for the former Liverpool boss, tonight’s fixture promises to be a cracker.
MANCHESTER CITY TEAM NEWS
Kevin de Bruyne has been ruled out of the fixture by Pep Guardiola while Fernandinho was pictured on Friday training with a strapping on his affected joint. Claudio Bravo is a long term absentee.
PREDICTED MANCHESTER CITY LINEUP VS LEICESTER CITY (4-3-3)
DEFENCE
Ederson will start in goal. Leicester have been an opponent to have kept him busy in the past two seasons but he will play a huge part in tonight’s scheme of things.
Kyle Walker and Oleksandr Zinchenko seem to be the preferred options in the fullback positions. The duo will play a key role and the plan will be to engage the opposition in their own half and keep the pressure on the Foxes.
A tactical change due to the pace Leicester offer on the break might see John Stones coming in for Vincent Kompany while Aymeric Laporte will be the left centre-back.
MIDFIELD
Fernandinho’s possible absence will see Ilkay Gundogan start in deep midfield. In that case, Bernardo Silva is likely to start in midfield with David Silva completing the trio.
The two Silvas will want to dominate play in the centre of the pitch and help City dictate terms.
ATTACK
Sergio Aguero will lead the line. The two-time Premier League winner knows what it takes to win these crunch games and Pep will be relying on him to score tonight.
We might see Riyad Mahrez get the nod to start on the right with his defensive output an important factor to be considered while Raheem Sterling will start on the left.
