Manchester City will entertain Birmingham City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon hoping to pick up a victory at home, which would ensure their place in the fourth round of the FA Cup. The Mancunian giants managed to beat their rivals, Manchester United in the EFL Cup semifinals in midweek, so they would be going into this game full of confidence about their chances of success this weekend.
Pep Guardiola will revert to a 4-3-3 formation and is expected to rest some of his first-team players for this cup contest. Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Bernardo Silva and Lukas Nmecha could all get a start as Guardiola looks offer Ruben Dias, Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling some well-deserved rest on the bench.
4-3-3 Manchester City Predicted Lineup To Face Birmingham City
Defence
Zack Steffen will operate in goal for Man City after securing a clean sheet versus the Red Devils earlier this week. Taylor Harwood-Bellis could get a rare start alongside John Stones in central defence as they try to keep things solid on the defensive end of the pitch this weekend.
Kyle Walker was rested in midweek, so he should return to feature at right-back while Benjamin Mendy fills in on the other flank as the left-back. Guardiola will ask both his full-backs to provide some width in the final third so that they can create some promising chances for their teammates inside the Birmingham penalty box.
Midfield
Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan and Lukas Nmecha could make up the Man City midfield as they look to dominate the ball and play some decisive through balls to the front players in the attacking third.
Kevin De Bruyne is enjoying an excellent run of form but might have to settle for a spot on the bench for this game as Guardiola looks to keep him fresh for the Premier League encounter versus Brighton and Hove Albion next week.
Attack
Phil Foden will look to catch the eye on the left-wing while Bernardo Silva focusses on producing another industrious display on the right. Gabriel Jesus could return to spearhead Guardiola’s attack down the middle.
Sergio Aguero will find himself on the bench once again but could come on to feature in the final quarter of this game if required.
