Manchester City head into Champions League action on Tuesday night after the unthinkable – a fifth consecutive defeat in all competitions.
Not only were Pep Guardiola’s beaten by bogey team Tottenham Hotspur, they were humiliated in front of their own supporters in a thumping 4-0 defeat at the Etihad Stadium.
The alarm bells are sounding in the ears of the Premier League champions, who now look to Guardiola to solve the biggest problem he’d faced in his entire managerial career. Rodri’s ACL induced absence is the obvious thing to point to, but there’s a number of other deficiencies the Spaniard must iron out against Feyenoord ahead of a huge, potentially title-deciding, Premier League clash with Liverpool.
Here’s the XI Guardiola could entrust against the Dutch giants in the Champions League, in order to get City back on track.
GK: Ederson – The Brazilian must be left aghast at what he’s seeing ahead of him. Ederson is conceding goals for fun, but he’s actually perfomed decent enough during City’s barren run.
RB: Kyle Walker – Walker’s surely on the come down, but Guardiola isn’t blessed with an array of right-back alternatives given his preference to play Rico Lewis centrally.
CB: Manuel Akanji – Akanji has offered an air of stability since joining the club, but even he’s teetering amid City’s dire run. However, with Ruben Dias still nursing a calf injury, the Swiss international is bound to get the nod.
CB: John Stones – Stones was withdrawn at half-time on Saturday, but the England international isn’t believed to be dealing with an injury.
LB: Nathan Ake – Josko Gvardiol could do with some respite after struggling mightily against Tottenham, and Ake seems like a wise choice for Tuesday’s bout.
CM: Matheus Nunes – There have been signs of Nunes blossoming into something quite handy this season, although much of his bright work has arrived in a wide position. However, with Ilkay Gundogan continuing to struggle and unlikely to start having played the full 90 on Saturday, Nunes could be utilised in Pep’s pivot.
CM: Rico Lewis – Supporters would surely prefer to see Lewis at right-back over Walker, but City are currently bereft of pivot options and Lewis is a prime candidate to start.
RM: Savinho – The Brazilian has made a positive start to his City career, but he’s yet to emerge as a reliable final third contributor and he was poor at the weekend.
AM: Kevin De Bruyne – De Bruyne couldn’t inspire a drastic turnaround on Saturday, but his 16-minute cameo was nonetheless impressive and he has a huge role to play if City are to get out of their slump.
LM: Jack Grealish – Grealish came on with De Bruyne against Spurs and had a less positive impact, essentially teeing up their fourth goal, but he should nonetheless come back into the XI given the doubts that surround Jeremy Doku’s fitness.
ST: Erling Haaland – City’s leading man up top was productive over the break but shackled by Radu Dragusin and Ben Davies at the weekend. Still, he has a great chance of returning to the scoresheet in midweek.
