Man City lineup vs. Brentford: Predicted XI for EFL Cup quarter-final as Pep Guardiola makes six changes

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is expected to heavily rotate his resources for Wednesday's EFL Cup quarter-final at home to Brentford.

The Citizens boss has sided with a largely settled XI for the past few weeks, a tactic that has paid dividends during the Sky Blues' five-game winning run in all tournaments.

The fifth and most recent of those successes arrived on Sunday - a 3-0 Premier League victory at Crystal Palace - but only five starters from that clash at Selhurst Park may be retained.

Due to the absences of Rodri (hamstring) and Mateo Kovacic (ankle), City are thin on the ground in midfield, forcing Nico Gonzalez to hold the fort for most of the campaign.

The Spaniard is surely now in line for a rest, so Tijjani Reijnders and Bernardo Silva could operate in a double pivot behind Rayan Cherki, the third and final survivor of Sunday's XI.

Jeremy Doku remains out after missing the Palace win with a leg injury, but Guardiola can still call upon Oscar Bobb and Savinho to provide some fresh legs in the final third.

A near-full complement of defensive changes should be on the cards too, as Nathan Ake, Abdukodir Khusanov, Rico Lewis and number two James Trafford all ought to be given opportunities to impress.

Rayan Ait-Nouri and Omar Marmoush would have been in line for starts, but the pair are about to jet off to the Africa Cup of Nations.

Manchester City possible starting lineup:

Trafford; Lewis, Khusanov, Ake, O'Reilly; Reijnders, Silva; Bobb, Cherki, Savinho; Haaland

> Click here to see how Brentford could line up for this game

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