Manchester City thrashed Crystal Palace 5-0 last week pushing the Eagles dangerously close to a relegation possibility prior to the last few weeks of the season. The win took Pep Guardiola’s men above Liverpool to the third position in the league table as Jurgen Klopp’s men failed to overcome the challenge from Southampton.
The Citizens will take a giant step towards securing a top-four spot if they manage a win against league defending champions Leicester City. However, the recent record indicates it won’t be a routine win by any means for Pep Guardiola. City have managed to win only twice in their last seven league meetings with the Foxes.
And as far as confidence going into the game is concerned, the Foxes will have an upper hand as they have won the last two league fixtures against City, in which they have scored at least three goals in each fixture. However, City have lost just once at home this season, to Chelsea. They have won nine and drawn seven so far, which is surely encouraging.
This could be the last tough fixture for City. They host West Bromwich Albion at home and Watford away in the remaining two fixtures, which could give easy wins for Guardiola. Here is how his team might lineup this weekend:
Defence
Willy Caballero will take his position under the bar. With Claudio Bravo out for the season, Guardiola has the Argentine as the only feasible option in that role. And he has retained the manager’s faith in him with some crucial saves in the match against Palace.
The defensive flanks will be taken by Gael Clichy and Fernandinho. Guardiola opted for a pretty sane set-up last game with two defensive-minded players there and we expect the boss to continue with them. The central defence will feature Vincent Kompany and Nicolas Otamendi. The duo has brought back a solidity to City’s backline that was hard to break even for the likes of Christian Benteke, Wilfred Zaha and Andros Townsend.
Midfield
The one-man midfield featuring Yaya Toure worked quite well for Guardiola in the previous game with the old man shouldering most of the pressure. We expect City to continue this setup against the Foxes.
The two attacking midfielders ahead of him will be Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva. Both got goals in the last game and will be brimming with confidence going into the tie.
Attack
The flanks will be taken by Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling. Sterling too, got a goal against Palace in the 5-0 drubbing. Gabriel Jesus will lead the attack. Though he was not on the score sheet in the midweek, his incessant work rate should force Guardiola to keep him in the starting line-up.