Having lost out on a trophy against Wolves on penalties recently, Manchester City will continue their pre-season this week, when they face Kitchee, a club from Hong Kong.
Kitchee have won six domestic league titles in the last nine years and have faced Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and Arsenal in the past. But Manchester City will be firm favourites going into this game, as Pep Guardiola looks to give his squad more game time in the middle.
Here is the Team News and Predicted Lineup For Manchester City for this friendly at Hong Kong Stadium.
Team News:
Guardiola is still without his South American stars Sergio Aguero, Fernandinho, Ederson and Gabriel Jesus, all of who are yet to return from their extended holiday after international duty. Benjamin Mendy is out injured but Phil Foden has joined the squad in Asia and could make an appearance.
Expected lineup (4-3-3)
Defence
With Ederson unavailable, Claudio Bravo will get yet another game between the sticks for City in this pre-season. Kyle Walker only came off the bench against Wolves but could start this game at right-back while Zinchencko is Guardiola’s best option at left-back but he could be replaced by Angelino, who came off the bench in that game.
Aymeric Laporte and John Stones did not last the entire game in the Premier League Asia trophy and could continue as a pair at the heart of the defence for the English Champions this week as Guardiola works out his central defensive options.
Midfield
Rodrigo Hernandez was impressive in spells against Wolves and deserves to keep his place in the middle of the park for this game as he looks to get up to speed with the squad. Guardiola might be tempted to bring David Silva into the starting XI.
The Spaniard will hope to inject some creativity into the City midfield, alongside Kevin de Bruyne, who also did not last the entire game against Wolves.
Attack
With both Aguero and Jesus absent from the squad, Pep is out of strikers to field for this game against Kitchee. However, he is expected to use Raheem Sterling through the middle, as he did in that 0-0 draw against Nuno Santo’s side while Lukas Nmecha will again make an appearance later in the game.
Bernardo Silva came off the bench in that game but should break into the starting XI this week. He will start on the right flank while Leroy Sane will look to add some pace on the left-flank, completing a strong side for Manchester City for this friendly, at least for the first half.
Here is how they might line up:
