Marmoush, O'Reilly among six changes for City | OneFootball

Omar Marmoush and Nico O'Reilly's stellar cameos at Bournemouth have earned both a starting berth against Leicester.

The pair are joined by Nico, Savinho, Jeremy Doku and Jack Grealish as Pep Guardiola makes six changes from the weekend.

Oscar Bobb makes a welcome return as a substitute  after almost eight months out.

Making way is the injured Erling Haaland, while Mateo Kovacic, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo and Phil Foden start on the bench.

Abdukodir Khusanov is not in the matchday squad as he is given a well-earned rest.

Line-ups

CITY: Ederson, Nunes, Dias (C), Gvardiol, O’Reilly, Nico, Gundogan, Savinho, Grealish, Doku, Marmoush

SUBS:: Ortega Moreno, Kovacic, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Reis, Foden, Bobb, Lewis, McAtee

LEICESTER CITY:  Hermansen, Justin, Faes, Coady, Kristiansen, Thomas, Soumare, Ndidi, El Khanouss, Daka, Vardy (C)

Subs: Stolarczyk, Coulibaly, Okoli, Ricardo, Skipp, De Cordova-Reid, Buonanotte, Mavididi, Ayew

Formation & probable tactics

Josko Gvardiol will partner Ruben Dias as the back four central pairing, with O'Reilly on the left and Mathues Nunes on the right.

Expect Grealish to take on a No.10 role, alongside Ilkay Gundogan with Nico the anchor in midfield.

Savinho and Doku will flank Marmoush up front in a 4-3-3.

As always, it will be a fluid formation with both wingers likely to swap flanks throughout the game.

Huge game for O'Reilly and Grealish

Nico O'Reilly's superb performance at Bournemouth has deservedly earned him a first Premier League start against the Foxes.

The 20-year-old has impressed whenever he has been called upon by Guardiola and now he has the opportunity to push his first team claims even further.

Jack Grealish has had to be patient in recent weeks as he waited for a first team return - and he will do so now in a position he excelled in earlier this season - centre midfield.

Both will look to grasp their opportunity with the Manchester derby next on the agenda this weekend - and beyond.

WATCH: City's best home Premier League moments against Leicester

Blues looking to kick on

Sunday's most welcome win over Bournemouth was just the fillip City needed heading into the final weeks of the season.

Defeat at the Vitality would have been a sizeable disappointment to recover from, and with the battle for Champions League places cranking up, it potentially could have had a knock-on effect in the Premier League.

Now, with an FA Cup semi-final to come - and possibly a final beyond that - the Premier League is our immediate focus.

The Blues know three points against a struggling Leicester City team is a minimum requirement.

The Foxes are in a perilous position and are 12 points from safety with nine games remaining.

Victory, and improving our goal difference, will be City's only focus this evening - though Pep Guardiola will ensure there is no complacency and pay the visitors the respect they deserve.

Stats, facts & milestones

City have won nine of our last 10 Premier League games against Leicester, winning the last six in a row by an aggregate score of 15-4.

None of Leicester’s 12 Premier League away games against City have been drawn, with the Foxes winning five to City’s seven. Meanwhile, the 10 meetings between the pair at the Etihad Stadium in the competition have produced a total of 43 goals (Man City 25, Leicester 18).

City have won 21 of our last 22 Premier League games against newly promoted opposition (D1), including each of our last 12 in a row – the joint-longest such winning run in our top-flight history (also 12 in a row from December 2009 to December 2011).

Leicester City have lost 13 of their last 14 Premier League games (W1), including their last six in a row without scoring a single goal. In English top-flight history, only three sides have ever lost 7+ without scoring in succession – Sunderland (8 in January 1977), Ipswich (7 in April 1995), and Crystal Palace (8 in September 2017).

City have won each of our last 13 Premier League games in April – only Liverpool in December (15 between 2017 and 2020) and Manchester United in March (15 between 2005 and 2009) have had longer winning runs in a specific month in the competition.

Leicester have had the fewest shots (262) and expected goals (25.8) of any side in the Premier League this season, while conversely only Liverpool (492) have attempted more shots than Manchester City (466) in the competition this term.

Among all managers to take charge of 15+ Premier League games with a particular club, Ruud van Nistelrooy with Leicester has the joint-second highest loss rate (81.3% - 13 losses in 16 games), while Pep Guardiola with Manchester City has the second highest win percentage (71.8% - 239 wins in 333 games).

Leicester City have conceded the first goal in 24 of their 29 Premier League games this season – at least five more than anyone else. Should they fall 1-0 behind to Man City here, it will be the outright most times a team has conceded first in their opening 30 matches of a Premier League campaign (25), surpassing Ipswich’s record from 1994-95 (24).

All four of Omar Marmoush’s Premier League goals this season have come at the Etihad Stadium, the joint-most by any player to score 100% of their goals at home in the competition this term (Marc Cucurella also 4/4). The only players to score each of their first 5+ goals in the Premier League for Man City all at home are Paulo Wanchope (6), Raheem Sterling (9), and Phil Foden (5).