Manchester City will entertain Lyon at the Etihad Stadium with the intention of kicking things off in the UEFA Champions League with a win. The Citizens have made a solid start to their Premier League title defence and have a 100% winning record at home this season.
On paper, it is a no contest as City have more quality in their squad. However, underestimating the Ligue 1 heavyweights could prove to be costly for the Mancunians, so they need to be at their best if Guardiola wants to come away with all three points from this contest.
It is expected that Man City will line up in a 4-3-3 formation and their manager might be forced to make some changes for this clash as Sergio Aguero and Benjamin Mendy are both unavailable due to injury.
4-3-3 Manchester City Predicted Lineup To Face Lyon
Defence
Ederson is the only senior goalkeeper at Guardiola’s disposal so he would start against Lyon while the youngster, Arijanet Muric sits as a back-up on the City bench. The duo of Aymeric Laporte and John Stones could lineup in central defence while Kyle Walker operates in the right-back position and Fabian Delph fills in as a makeshift left-back. Benjamin Mendy will not be involved in this European match as he is still recovering from his injury.
The Citizens kept a clean sheet at the weekend when they comfortably beat Fulham with a 3-0 scoreline. Guardiola would hope for a similar kind of display from his defenders when they lace up to face off against the French giants in midweek.
Midfield
David Silva, Fernandinho and Bernardo Silva might play at the centre of the park with the Brazilian operating as a deep-lying holding midfielder while the other two looks to orchestrate some chances for their teammates in the opposition half.
David Silva got his name on the scoresheet against the Cottagers on Saturday so he will be a significant threat to the Lyon defence on Wednesday night.
Attack
Guardiola could opt to start with a front three comprised of Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling and Riyad Mahrez up top. All three players are looking to nail down a permanent starting berth in the Citizens’ first-team so they will have a lot to prove versus the Ligue 1 outfit.
Sergio Aguero is going to miss out on this encounter after suffering an injury over the weekend.
