Manchester City will entertain Watford at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday hoping to return to winning ways in the Premier League. The Citizens come into this clash on the back of a 3-0 away win against Shakhtar Donetsk in the UEFA Champions League. Pep Guardiola would expect a similar kind of dominant performance versus the Hornets this weekend.
The Man City manager will likely stick with his favoured 4-3-3 formation and could name Sergio Aguero in his starting XI for this encounter at Manchester.
4-3-3 Manchester City Predicted Lineup To Face Watford
Defence
Ederson will lineup in between the sticks for Man City after keeping a clean sheet against Shakhtar Donetsk in midweek. Guardiola will be forced to play Nicolas Otamendi and Fernandinho at the heart of the Citizens backline as both John Stones and Aymeric Laporte will not feature in this game due to long-term injuries.
Kyle Walker will try to cause a few problems for the Hornets defenders down the right flank. Oleksandr Zinchenko will operate on the other side in the left-back position looking to build on his excellent display versus Shakhtar on Wednesday night. Joao Cancelo and Benjamin Mendy will have to settle for a spot on the Man City bench and might get an opportunity to make an impact in this game if required.
The Man City defence were in sixes and sevens when they travelled to Norwich City last weekend. Hence, they would need to put in a much-improved defensive display at home against Quique Sánchez Flores’s men.
Midfield
Guardiola will likely choose to go with the midfield three of David Silva, Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne as they look to link up play and create some decent goal-scoring opportunities in the Watford half. Phil Foden is a doubt for this game and will be in a race against time to be fit for this clash at the Etihad.
Attack
Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva will hope to stretch the Watford defence out on the wide positions while Sergio Aguero returns to lead the charge up top. Aguero has registered a goal in each of his past five outings in the English top-flight. Hence, the Argentine centre-forward will be confident about getting his name on the scoresheet once again against the Hornets this weekend.
Gabriel Jesus will be a part of Guardiola’s bench despite scoring a goal versus Shakhtar on Wednesday night.
