How Manchester City could line up against Chelsea

Premier League champions Manchester City get their 2018-19 campaign up and running this weekend when taking on Chelsea in the Community Shield.

On the back of a record-breaking campaign that saw them rack up triple figures in the top flight, the Citizens will be looking to flex their muscles in Sunday's showdown at Wembley Stadium.

Only one new senior addition has arrived so far this summer, with Riyad Mahrez being added to a squad already bursting with talent, but City's starting lineup may have an unfamiliar look to it as a number of key men remain absent after partaking in the World Cup.

Here, Sports Mole predicts how Pep Guardiola will set out his side against Chelsea.

Guardiola would have been relieved to hear earlier this week that the ankle injury sustained by Mahrez against Bayern Munich was nothing serious, and the Algeria international is now in contention to feature this coming weekend.

With this being City's final outing before the Premier League gets underway, the Catalan coach will be keen to give as many of his regulars playing time as possible.

Leroy Sane was a surprise omission against Bayern due to fitness concerns, but will surely be thrown into the mix at Wembley, while Bernardo Silva and Aymeric Laporte fall into the same category.

After reaching the World Cup final with France, Benjamin Mendy cut short his holiday to link up with his clubmates in the United States, but he has yet to get any minutes on the field and will be slowly eased back in due to concerns over a knee injury.

Elsewhere, Claudio Bravo has started all three friendlies in the absence of regular first choice Ederson, while young forward Lukas Nmecha has also been used heavily and will likely be given a chance to impress against the FA Cup holders, as may Brahim Diaz and Claudio Gomes.