Manchester City will travel to East London to face off against West Ham United hoping to kick things off in the Premier League with a victory on Saturday. The Citizens come into this game at the back of a penalty shootout victory versus Liverpool in the FA Community Shield.
Pep Guardiola will be confident about his side’s chances of claiming maximum points at the London Stadium. The Spanish head coach will stick with his favoured 4-3-3 formation this weekend. However, he will be without the services of Leroy Sane who will undergo surgery after he suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury earlier this month.
4-3-3 Manchester City Predicted Lineup To Face West Ham United
Defence
Ederson Moraes is expected to return to Man City’s starting XI after he had to settle for a place on the bench during his team’s FA Community Shield win over Liverpool last weekend. The Brazilian keeper will try to start his season off with a clean sheet on Saturday afternoon. Both John Stones and Aymeric Laporte will lineup at the centre of Guardiola’s backline as they look to cope with Sebastien Haller’s threat at the London Stadium.
Nicolas Otamendi might have to be content with a place on the Citizens bench. Kyle Walker will lineup as the right-back while Oleksander Zinchenko tries to impress on the other side as the left-back. Joao Cancelo could make his debut against the Hammers this weekend if Guardiola decides to call upon his services off the bench.
Midfield
Guardiola might choose to go with the midfield three of David Silva, Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne as they try to establish the away side’s dominance at the centre of the park. De Bruyne was ravaged by injuries last season so he would have something to prove against the Hammers this weekend.
The Belgian international has enjoyed a solid preseason which will give him a lot of confidence heading into this encounter. Ilkay Gundogan and Phil Foden will begin the game on Guardiola’s bench and might come on during the contest if needed.
Attack
The talented trio of Raheem Sterling, Sergio Aguero and Bernardo Silva will look to cause a lot of problems for the West Ham defenders on Saturday. Sterling got his name on the scoresheet against his former club last weekend so we can expect him to be a potent goal-threat in the opposition half.
Gabriel Jesus might have to settle for a spot on the Man City bench. He could get a chance to impress in the second half if required.`
