Manchester City will take on FC Porto at the Estádio do Dragão on Tuesday night hoping to earn a victory and ensure their place as the Group C winners in the knockout phases of the UEFA Champions League. Pep Guardiola’s men managed to secure a dominant 5-0 win over Burnley in their last outing which will give them a lot of confidence heading into this upcoming European showdown away at Portugal.
The Mancunian giants will set themselves up in a 4-3-3 formation with Guardiola expected to make a few changes to his starting XI in midweek. Bernardo Silva and Raheem Sterling are expected to start after both of them were rested against the Clarets last Saturday.
4-3-3 Manchester City Predicted Lineup To Face FC Porto
Defence
Ederson will retain his spot in between the sticks for Man City after he kept back to back clean sheets versus Olympiacos and Burnley respectively. Ruben Dias will resume his centre-back partnership will Aymeric Laporte in defence as they try to restrict the home side from finding the back of the net on Tuesday.
Joao Cancelo will get a chance to impress at right-back while Oleksandr Zinchenko fills in on the other side as the left-back. Guardiola will give both of them the license to get forward so that they can provide some natural width in the final third.
The Mancunian outfit has conceded just one goal in the Champions League group stages thus far, so they will be quietly confident about securing another shutout on the road in midweek.
Midfield
Guardiola could opt for a midfield three of Phil Foden, Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne for this game at the Estádio do Dragão. The talented trio will look to keep the ball moving at the centre of the park and engineer some meaningful openings for the front players in the opposition half.
Ilkay Gundogan and Fernandinho will have to be content with a place on the bench but could come on to feature in the second half if required.
Attack
Raheem Sterling is expected to get a start as a wide player on the left flank while Bernardo Silva hopes to give a good account of himself from the right-wing. Gabriel Jesus will once again get the nod to spearhead Guardiola’s attack down the middle. The Brazilian striker failed to get in on the goal-scoring act versus the Clarets, so he will be eager to register his name on the scoresheet when he laces up to face off against the Porto defenders in midweek.
Ferran Torres and Riyad Mahrez could be rested on the bench as they provide cover for the attacking positions.
