admin Manchester City and Pep Guardiola begin their defense of the Champions League trophy with a home draw against struggling Red Star Belgrade but will want to start the season with a win from which the Spanish coach can emerge a strong team.
Currently five wins from five and top of the Premier League table, the Citizens will be looking to maintain this form in the Champions League and complete their group before fixtures increase in October and November.
With that in mind, we wait for the Cityzens line-up and the latest news on the Etihad team.
Predicted XI
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Team News
Manchester City’s squad is extremely thin due to injuries, with four key players missing their first Champions League game.
Kevin de Bruyne remains a long-term absence for the Belgian and is not expected to return until January from a hamstring injury, while summer signing Mateo Kovacic is also on the bench and Wednesday’s game may come too soon for the Croatian as he recovers from a back injury. This could give Matheus Nunes a full debut in midfield and the Wolves player has so far been limited to substitute appearances for the Cityzens and coming on as a substitute in the win against West Ham United.
There are problems in defense too, with John Stones still battling the issue that saw him miss much of the start of the season. This means that Kyle Walker may still have to play at right-back, but there is also the possibility of moving Manuel Akanji into that role or signing young talent Rico Lewis.Further afield, Jeremy Doku looks set to retain his place after scoring against West Ham this weekend, while the Belgian will benefit from Jack Grealish’s injury, which leaves little chance of replacing the summer striker on the pitch.
