How Manchester City could line up against Liverpool

Manchester City will attempt to take a giant step towards just a second ever appearance in the semi-finals of the Champions League when they face Liverpool on Wednesday night.

The Citizens boast an 18-point advantage on their last-eight opponents in the Premier League, having played a game fewer, and are slight favourites to progress through.

City have performed admirably both home and away all season long, suffering just four losses throughout a memorable 2017-18 that could end with them winning a famous treble.

Pep Guardiola has plenty of big selection calls to make, and with that in mind Sports Mole looks at the XI players the Catalan could go with for the first leg at Anfield.

Out: Sergio Aguero (ankle) Doubtful: Benjamin Mendy (knee), Fabian Delph (knee)

The most intriguing selection decision for Guardiola to make arguably comes at left-back, where the absences of Mendy and makeshift defender Delph - who picked up a knee injury in the most recent meeting between the two sides - are still being felt.

Guardiola went with Aymeric Laporte in that position against Everton last time out, and he must now decide whether to continue with that experiment or instead go with Oleksandr Zinchenko in a key area of the field.

Aguero's three-week layoff with an ankle injury is giving Guardiola a headache of a different kind, meanwhile, with the striker again ruled out for Wednesday's clash on Merseyside.

That will mean that Gabriel Jesus retains his spot through the middle, likely flanked by Leroy Sane and former Liverpool man Raheem Sterling, who is enjoying his most prolific campaign to date.

Elsewhere, the three-man midfield is expected to be comprised of David Silva, Fernandinho and Kevin De Bruyne, meaning that Ilkay Gundogan - a former player of Reds boss Jurgen Klopp at Borussia Dortmund - will watch on from the bench with the equally talented Bernardo Silva.