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Manchester City welcome Leeds United to the Etihad in the Premier League on Saturday desperate to return to winning ways after losing their last two matches.
Manchester City welcome Leeds United to the Etihad on Saturday desperate to return to winning ways. The 3-0 victory over Liverpool earlier this month had lifted the Blues into second spot in the table and sent City into the international break on a high.
But back-to-back defeats to Newcastle United in the Premier League and Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League have raised questions about the ability of this City side to challenge for honours, with Pep Guardiola's decision to change 10 players for the midweek European defeat also backfiring.
None of the new faces did much to earn a start against Leeds and Guardiola may well revert to the line-up that began the defeat to Newcastle seven days ago. Gianluigi Donnarumma will certainly return in goal while Nico O'Reilly and Matheus Nunes seemingly have the full back roles locked down. John Stones was one of the better performers against Leverkusen but Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol are the first choice pairing in the middle and will likely reunite.
Nico Gonzalez is set to be asked to go again in the continued absence of Rodri and the extended absence of Mateo Kovacic. The Spaniard has impressed in recent weeks but his minutes will also need to be managed moving forward. The attacking line of Phil Foden, Rayan Cherki and Jeremy Doku has looked full of promise and potential in recent weeks and looks set to continue, leaving perhaps the only decision over who else plays in midfield.
Captain Bernardo Silva may well return to the XI but given the home fixture against a newly-promoted and out of form Leeds, Tijjani Reijnders might be handed a second chance. The Dutchman has threatened to score plenty of times since his summer arrival but has just the one goal - on the opening day at Wolves. A game against relegation threatened opposition seems one where Bernardo can be left out with Fulham on Tuesday in mind.
Erling Haaland will lead the line with the Norwegian the only player in the City squad to have netted more than once in the Premier League. Remarkably, with December a matter of days away, Burnley defender Maxime Esteve remains the second-highest top flight scorer for City courtesy of his two own goals when the Blues beat Scott Parker's side in September.
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