Predicted Predicted Starting Line-Up: Manchester City vs Tottenham (Premier League) | OneFootball

Manchester City return to action in the Premier League after the November international break, and they do so against big-six rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

The Etihad Stadium outfit should head into the clash against the North London club with renewed energy, despite losing four straight matches across all competitions before the break. Just days ago, Pep Guardiola penned his future at the club for two more years until 2027.

It is not the first time the club have extended the Catalan manager’s contract in the midst of a losing run, cementing their faith in the decorated coach’s ability to continue leading the side into the future.

They will need to quickly rectify their recent form however, as Liverpool begin to break away in the Premier League under Arne Slot, and they can start with a statement win against the side that knocked them out of the League Cup just a few weeks ago — Tottenham Hotspur.

Ahead of the Premier League showdown, let’s take a look at how Manchester City may line-up, keeping in mind the continue to be ravaged by injuries!

Predicted XI

Ederson will maintain his role as the number one between the sticks for Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, despite playing for Brazil during the international break and making the long flight back to Europe later than some of his teammates in action elsewhere on the continent.

Kyle Walker has had a dip in form this season, but injuries elsewhere may just force Pep Guardiola into deploying the veteran full-back against his former team, taking his captain’s armband for the fixture.

Meanwhile, there has been some good news on the fitness front as both Manuel Akanji and John Stones trained in the week leading up the Spurs clash, and we expect that duo to patrol the centre of defence.

Josko Gvardiol has been arguably the most consistent performer for Manchester City this season, and should maintain his stranglehold on the left-back role having extended his fine form in front of goal over to the Croatia national side earlier this week.

Things start to get interesting as we head into midfield. With Mateo Kovacic ruled out through injury and likely to stay sidelined for up to a month, the makeshift midfield could be a double-pivot of Ilkay Gundogan and Rico Lewis.

Ahead of that duo it gets trickier. Kevin De Bruyne maintained his involvement in training this week, but we expect the Belgian to be deployed as a ‘super-sub’ while he gets back up to speed in matches. That means Phil Foden will take up the key creator role behind the striker.

Bernardo Silva could be key for Pep Guardiola with injuries elsewhere, and will likely be important in trying to wrestle back control with Kovacic and Rodri out. We do expect him to float in and out of midfield, rotating with Phil Foden on the centre-right of the pitch.

That leaves the seemingly two automatic attackers for Pep Guardiola these days, with Matheus Nunes taking up his ‘usual’ role on the left of Manchester City’s front-three, and the ever-present Erling Haaland through the middle to lead the line.

Predicted XI: Ederson; Walker, Stones, Akanji, Gvardiol; Gundogan, Lewis, Foden; Bernardo, Haaland, Nunes.

Substitutes: Ortega Moreno, Simpson-Pusey, Wilson-Esbrand, O’Reilly, McAtee, De Bruyne, Savinho, Doku, Grealish.