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On the back of four consecutive defeats, Manchester City faces Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad.
Manchester City entered the November international break at a low point. The defending English champions were eliminated from the Carabao Cup by Tottenham, defeated in the Premier League by Bournemouth and Brighton & Hove Albion and thrashed by Sporting CP in the Champions League. The Citizens now trail Liverpool by five points in the Premier League.
Many of City’s woes came from an injury crisis that is slowly disappearing. Although Rodri, Oscar Bobb, Mateo Kovačić and Rúben Dias remain on the sidelines, many familiar faces participated in training over the break, including John Stones, Manuel Akanji, Nathan Aké, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Kevin De Bruyne, Jérémy Doku and Matheus Nunes.
Pep Guardiola’s men will be eager to get back to winning ways, especially against the side that defeated them 2-1 just three weeks ago.
Here’s what City’s XI could look like against Ange Postecoglou’s squad on Saturday, Nov. 23.
GK: Ederson — The Brazilian will look to keep City’s first clean sheet in over a month.
RB: Kyle Walker — Having sat out of international duty, expect Walker to get the nod on the right flank.
CB: Manuel Akanji — The defender returned to training after missing City’s match against Brighton and international duty for Switzerland. Akanji is due to make his 111th appearance for the Citizens this weekend.
CB: John Stones — Without Dias available, Stones is the next man up to patch up City’s injured backline, especially if Aké is unable to feature.
LB: Joško Gvardiol — The Croatian will have to be at his best to silence Brennan Johnson, who comes into the match with two goals and two assists in his last five matches for club and country.
DM: İlkay Gündoğan — The ex-Barcelona man is in for more minutes with Kovačić sidelined. Although he is still …
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