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

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

The Catalan has confirmed that Gabriel Jesus and Jack Grealish are back in contention after recovering from injury with the former returning to training this week.

City come into the fixture off the back of a 3-2 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur last weekend, which saw familiar faces return to their starting XI from those selected against Sporting Lisbon in their Champions League Round of 16 first leg.

Ilkay Gundogan was on the scoresheet for the Sky Blues against Spurs, his goal since their 6-3 drubbing of Leicester City on Boxing Day.

Here is a look at how City could line-up against Norwich at Goodison Park.

Goalkeeper

It is almost a certainty that Ederson will maintain his place between the sticks on Saturday, with the Brazilian having 14 clean sheets so far this season.

The Sky Blues’ no.31 is Guardiola’s first choice for Premier League games, featuring in all but one of their 26 games in the competition, so expect to see him back in goal.

Defence

Guardiola’s favoured centre-back pairing of Ruben Dias and Aymeric Laporte started against Tottenham, despite the latter being substituted for Nathan Ake against Sporting.

Kyle Walker returned to the starting XI in City’s loss to Spurs, replacing John Stones at right-back. However, he faces competition from the latter for a place on the teamsheet on Saturday.

At left-back, Joao Cancelo remained there against Tottenham and has been first choice in that position this campaign with Oleksandr Zinchenko and Ake also options.

Midfield

Guardiola will likely continue to line-up in a 4-3-3 formation having used it regularly during his tenure in charge of the club, though their fluidity could allow for a 4-2-2-2 on Saturday.

The Catalan has plenty of players to utilise in centre-midfield, including Kevin De Bruyne, Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Fernandinho, Ilkay Gundogan, James McAtee and Phil Foden.

However, the latter has been used mainly as a winger or false-9 in a front three this season.

Attack

The use of a false-9 has been implemented significantly by Guardiola this campaign with Grealish, Foden and Sterling all playing in the role.

However, with the return of Jesus a possibility, we could see the Brazilian start as a traditional number nine.

The wide positions are also up for debate, especially after Riyad Mahrez’s goal against Spurs - his fifth in as many games, while Sterling started his fourth consecutive game for the Sky Blues last weekend and has been in fine form since, netting four times.

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