Man City predicted line-up vs Leicester: Three changes expected with defensive reshuffle - gallery

Pep Guardiola may opt to rotate his Manchester City side for Saturday’s Premier League clash against Leicester City.

The Catalan might already be thinking about his midweek trip to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, with Guardiola keen to stress after Tuesday’s 3-0 win in the quarter-final first leg that the tie is very much still alive.

That said, given the Blues have a healthy lead and are still in the grips of a Premier League title scrap, Guardiola may view the visit of the Foxes as the key match over the next week. City head into the game six points off leaders Arsenal with a game in hand, and could close that gap with the Gunners not in action until Sunday.

City will also have to contend with a Leicester side who have a new man in charge following the appointment of Dean Smith this week. While Guardiola will be wary of the new-manager bounce, he has previously won all six of his meetings with Smith by a combined scoreline of 19-3.

The former Aston Villa boss will hope he can call upon the services of Youri Tielemans and Harvey Barnes for the game at the Etihad on Saturday, although both are expected to miss out, while City’s only major injury concern is Phil Foden, who remains absent after he had his appendix removed last month.

If Guardiola is to make changes for the Premier League encounter, he may opt to reinstate Kyle Walker and Aymeric Laporte to the team, with both sitting out recent matches. Meanwhile, Riyad Mahrez didn’t play against Bayern in midweek and could come in to face his former side. Here’s how we think City will line up at the weekend.