Man City lineup vs. Salford City: Predicted XI for FA Cup third-round tie

Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at how Man City could line up for Saturday’s FA Cup third-round clash with Salford City.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is expected to make changes to his starting lineup for Saturday’s FA Cup third-round tie against Salford City at the Etihad Stadium.

The Citizens are still coping without Rodri (ACL), Ruben Dias (muscle) and John Stones (ankle) due to injury, while this weekend’s game will also come too soon for Oscar Bobb, even though he returned to partial training this week after five months out with a leg fracture.

However, Guardiola has confirmed that goalkeeper Ederson is “fine” after missing the last four games with a knock and could therefore feature against Salford. Stefan Ortega has played between the sticks in Ederson’s absence and remains in contention to keep his spot, while Guardiola may opts to hand a rare start to 39-year-old Scott Carson, who has only ever made two senior appearances for the Citizens since joining in 2020.

A number of academy starlets could be involved this weekend, including centre-back Jahmai Simpson-Pusey and left-back Josh Wilson-Esbrand who are both in contention to play in defence. Captain Kyle Walker will likely return to the starting lineup, while at least one of Manuel Akanji, Nathan Ake or Josko Gvardiol may be given a rest.

In midfield, James McAtee, Nico O’Rielly and Jacob Wright all featured in the EFL Cup earlier this season and could be called upon to start against Salford, while Matheus Nunes and Ilkay Gundogan may also be recalled, with Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden, Mateo Kovacic and Savinho potentially rested.

Erling Haaland is another who may make way – with Guardiola refusing to ruled out that the striker could be rested – and 20-year-old Divin Mubama could subsequently be handed his Man City debut up front, after joining the club from West Ham in August. He most recently contributed to all three goals (two goals, one assists) as City’s Under-21s beat Nottingham Forest in a Premier League 2 game last month.

Guardiola may instead decide to play either McAtee or Foden as a false nine, while out-of-form Jack Grealish will be looking to get back into the Man City manager’s good books if he is handed a start on the left flank; fellow winger Jeremy Doku is also pushing for a recall.

Manchester City possible starting lineup: Ortega; Walker, Simpson-Pusey, Akanji, Wilson-Esbrand; O’Reilly, Gundogan; Doku, McAtee, Grealish; Mubama

ID:562404:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:collect5778:

No Data Analysis info