Manchester City will travel to Anfield to clash heads with the Premier League leaders, Liverpool on Sunday hoping to win and close the gap at the top of the league standings. The Citizens missed out on an away win in their last visit to Merseyside because of a penalty miss by Riyad Mahrez.
Pep Guardiola will now hope that his side can go one step further and secure all three points versus the Reds this weekend. The Mancunian giants will opt for a 4-3-3 formation with Sergio Aguero expected to return and spearhead Guardiola’s attack.
4-3-3 Manchester City Predicted Lineup To Face Liverpool
Defence
Ederson has been ruled out for this clash. The Brazilian keeper kept two clean sheets in his last three Premier League starts and Man City will definitely miss him. Claudio Bravo will replace him in goal. Guardiola will have no choice but to play Fernandinho as a centre-back alongside John Stones. The defensive pair will look to keep the Liverpool front three quiet on Sunday.
Benjamin Mendy might get another shot to impress at left-back while Kyle Walker assumes the duties of a right-back. Both full-backs will have their hands full while up against Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane respectively.
Joao Cancelo and Nicolas Otamendi will have to wait for their chance on the Man City bench. However, Rodri and Aymeric Laporte are both expected to be out of this encounter due to injury.
Midfield
Guardiola might choose to go with the midfield three of Bernardo Silva, Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne as they focus their attention on dominating possession in midfield by winning the 50-50 battles against the Liverpool midfielders. De Bruyne will be expected to orchestrate some promising goal-scoring opportunities for the front players.
David Silva will likely miss out on this match following his injury earlier this week. Therefore, Phil Foden could be an option for Guardiola on the bench and might get a chance to feature in this contest if needed.
Attack
Man City could choose to go with an attack-minded front three of Raheem Sterling, Sergio Aguero and Riyad Mahrez. Guardiola knows that his side has to dominate possession and dictate proceedings if they want to secure maximum points from Merseyside. Hence, the Citizens could force the home side back by opting to play their strongest available frontline this weekend.
