Manchester City kick off their much-anticipated Premier league season as bookies favourite to win the title when they visit AMEX Stadium to face newly promoted side Brighton & Hove Albion. While on paper, the two teams remain at the extreme end of the table, Pep Guardiola would know from experience that anything is possible.
City have spent over £200 million in the summer and most of them will be on display on Sunday as the Spaniard learns how his grand scheme is going to pan out after all. The Manchester outfit would expect a routine win by all means.
Predicted 3-4-2-1 Manchester City Line-Up vs Brighton & Hove Albion
Defence
New arrival Ederson will take the position under the bar for sure. The Brazilian international has been brought in from defending Liga NOS champions Benfica for his unparalleled ball distribution abilities. Although the Seagulls are expected to sit very deep in their half and see out the game against an attacking side like City, it means Ederson’s strength is unlikely to be effective.
The back three centre halves are likely to be Vincent Kompany, Nicolas Otamendi and John Stones. Guardiola had to miss his skipper for large portions of the season last term and would hope him to remain fit this time. Stones faces a huge season ahead of him as his World Cup dreams remain at stake. He would hope to improve his performance too.
Midfield
The wing back roles should be new recruits, Kyle Walker and Danilo. City had decided to release all of their aged legs last summer like Pablo Zabaleta, Bacary Sagna, Gael Clichy and Jesus Navas; replacing them with young blood who can run tirelessly throughout the 90 minutes.
Their latest man from Ligue 1 champions AS Monaco, Benjamin Mendy, remain absent owing to his thigh injury. The French international is expected to miss the second game against Everton too.
In the midfield, we expect Guardiola to start with the veteran Yaya Toure and Fernandinho. The duo provides the perfect balance of offence and defence from the centre of the park and with German star Ilkay Gundogan missing with a knee injury, Guardiola doesn’t have much of an option anyway.
Attack
The two playmakers up front should be Belgian international Kevin De Bruyne and Spanish international David Silva. With Chris Hughton expected to sit deep against City playing wingers would seem silly as City hardly possess tall centre forwards to head home the crosses.
The selection of the lone striker remains an interesting one and we expect Sergio Aguero to get the nod ahead of Gabriel Jesus.
