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Attendance: 29,385
Dinamo Zagreb
Champions League | Group Stage
Dec 11, 2019 at 5.55pm UK
 
Manchester City logo

1-4

Olmo (10')
FT(HT: 1-1)
Jesus (34', 50', 54'), Foden (84')

How Manchester City could line up against Dinamo Zagreb

Sports Mole looks at how Manchester City could line up for Wednesday's Champions League clash with Dinamo Zagreb.

Manchester City will want to bounce back from last weekend's derby disappointment with a victory over Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Pep Guardiola side find the defence of their Premier League title in tatters, sitting 14 points off Liverpool following a 2-1 defeat to Manchester United on Saturday.

They will now have to focus on the Champions League, with City already qualified as group winners ahead of this game.

Here, Sports Mole looks at how the Citizens could line up for this fixture.


POSSIBLE MNC XI v ZAG

Out: John Stones (thigh), Leroy Sane (knee), Aymeric Laporte (knee), Sergio Aguero (thigh)
Doubtful: Oleksandr Zinchenko (fitness)

Guardiola will want to strike the right balance on Wednesday - fielding a team strong enough to win the game while at the same time not risking key players.

One first team member likely to miss out is Kyle Walker, with Joao Cancelo coming into the right-back position for this game.

On the other side, Guardiola could use this game as a chance to give Zinchenko some match fitness after declaring last week that the player was no longer injured following over a month out.

There is very little choice for the Catalan when it comes to central defence following the injury to Stones against United, meaning that Fernandinho is partnered by Nicolas Otamendi.

Ilkay Gundogan was introduced during the closing stages of the Manchester derby and failed to exert an impact, but will be called on once again here as City look to control the tempo early on in the game.

One player who certainly deserves a start, if only to give rest to others, is Phil Foden - a supremely talented youngster but somebody whose minutes have been considerably limited this term.

In a game played at a high tempo, Guardiola may be tempted to pick the killer precision of David Silva, but will be reluctant to use such an important player in a meaningless game.

Bernardo Silva, who struggled against United, therefore looks likely to play as an inside forward coming in from the right hand side to complement the more direct approach of Riyad Mahrez.

In the absence of Aguero - another player definitely not being risked in this game - Guardiola will give another chance to Gabriel Jesus, who is yet to start fully firing in front of goal this term.

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