Manchester City will welcome Red Bull Leipzig at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night as they hope to earn a victory in front of their home fans. Pep Guardiola’s men managed to grind out a 1-0 win against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium last weekend. Hence, they will be full of confidence ahead of this UEFA Champions League clash in midweek.
The Mancunian giants will set themselves up in a 4-3-3 formation with Guardiola likely to make a few changes to his first-team for this match. Kevin De Bruyne, Riyad Mahrez and John Stones could all play from the start as the Man City boss might fancy freshening up his team for this upcoming showdown versus the German outfit.
4-3-3 Manchester City Predicted Lineup To Face Red Bull Leipzig
Defence
Ederson will feature in between the sticks for the home team after he kept a much-needed clean sheet against the Foxes last Saturday. John Stones could come into the side to replace Aymeric Laporte in central defence. The English talent will play alongside Ruben Dias as the pair try to keep the Leipzig attackers quiet during the 90 minutes.
Kyle Walker should continue to feature at right-back while Joao Cancelo looks to give a good account of himself on the other side as the left-back. Guardiola will ask both of them to push high up the field so that they can make some overlapping runs out on the wide areas.
Aymeric Laporte could get a rest on the bench and offer cover for the centre-back spots.
Midfield
Ilkay Gundogan will resume his partnership with Rodri and Bernardo Silva at the centre of the park as the midfield trio looks to establish their superiority over the opposition throughout the game. Silva managed to score the only goal of the game versus the Foxes, so his confidence will be sky-high ahead of this European contest in midweek.
Fernandinho will have to be content with a spot on the bench as he waits for his chance to influence the game in the second 45 minutes if required.
Attack
Jack Grealish is expected to retain his spot down the left wing while Riyad Mahrez could come into the side to function as the right-sided wide player. Kevin De Bruyne could get the nod to operate as a makeshift centre-forward for Man City
Ferran Torres will probably have to settle for a place on Guardiola’s bench but could come on to make an impact in the final quarter of the game if needed.
