Man City predicted line-up to face Liverpool in Community Shield with Aymeric Laporte ruled out

Several key players may not be available to start for Manchester City when they take on Liverpool in the Community Shield on Saturday.

The Blues face their rivals at Leicester City’s King Power Stadium but head into the match with the squad majorly lacking fitness after a low-key pre-season.

City only played two games in preparation for the 2022/23 campaign, with Saturday’s Community Shield expected to be viewed as another opportunity to boost fitness ahead of season.

Several players haven’t featured at all in warm-up matches, with John Stones, Ilkay Gundogan and Phil Foden not travelling to America.

Aymeric Laporte also wasn’t part of that group, with Guardiola revealing in Friday’s pre-match press conference that the Spanish international is set to be out for the first month of the campaign after undergoing knee surgery this summer.

It means City were effectively working with a senior squad of just 13 outfield players during the tour, and it’s expected they’ll make up most of the starting line-up against Liverpool.

Despite the lack of games for the City squad, several did manage to get 90 minutes under their belts across the two matches.

Stefan Ortega Moreno and Kyle Walker played the whole game in the 2-1 win over Club America, with Ederson, Nathan Ake, Joao Cancelo, Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Grealish managing the same as City beat Bayern Munich 1-0.

Rodri was the only player who featured for 90 minutes in both games, indicating his fitness levels have remained high despite the summer break.

Ahead of the Community Shield we’ve taken a look at how City could line up against Liverpool.