Manchester City predicted starting XI for Premier League clash with Brentford - with these key changes

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has several options to choose from ahead of Wednesday’s Premier League clash with Brentford.

The Spaniard has confirmed that Gabriel Jesus and Cole Palmer are the only two players unavailable for the clash against the Bees, with the former sustaining a muscle injury while on international duty with Brazil last week.

City come into the fixture off the back of a 4-1 FA Cup fourth round win over Fulham on Saturday, which saw significant rotation to their starting XI from those selected against Southampton on January 22.

Squad players such as John Stones and Ilkay Gundogan were on the scoresheet for the Sky Blues against the Cottagers and could stake a place for a starting spot on Wednesday.

Here is a look at how City could line-up against Brentford at the Etihad Stadium.

Goalkeeper

It is almost a certainty that Ederson will maintain his place between the sticks on Wednesday, despite Zack Steffan playing against Fulham.

The Brazilian has started all but one of the club’s league games this season, given his 12 clean sheets so far, expect to see the Sky Blues’ no.31 back in goal.

Defence

Guardiola has four senior centre-back options to choose from on Wednesday with Aymeric Laporte and Ruben Dias his favoured pairing in the league. However, with Stones and Ake putting in a solid performance against Fulham, and the former scoring, it’ll be interesting if this sways the City boss to pick the Englishman.

The right-back slot has been filled by Kyle Walker for the last four games in all competitions, but can also be occupied by Joao Cancelo, who tends to shift to the left-side of defence when the farmer starts.

However, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Nathan Ake can feature at left-back with the latter starting in that position against Arsenal on New Year’s Day.

Midfield

The 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 formations have been rotated this season under Guardiola and allows for several of his squad to feature in either a centre or attacking-midfield role.

With Jesus’ absence, it is likely Guardiola will continue to line-up in a 4-3-3 formation, with the Spaniard having plenty of options to utilise in centre-midfield, including Kevin De Bruyne, Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Fernandinho, Gundogan , Phil Foden and James McAtee.

Attack

The use of a false-9 has been implemented significantly by Guardiola this campaign with Jack Grealish, Foden and Raheem Sterling all playing in the role. It’s likely that this will occur against Brentford as well due to Jesus being unavailable.

The wide positions are also up for debate, especially after Mahrez’s two goals against Fulham in his return to the starting XI.

Of the front three against the Cottages, Grealish and Foden retained their places, while Sterling was replaced by Mahrez.

Predicted XI: Ederson; Walker, Laporte, Dias, Cancelo; De Bruyne, Rodri, Silva; Mahrez, Grealish, Foden.