Manchester City Starting 11: Expect Rotations Against Everton

Manchester City have fallen out of the Carabao Cup, marking another early exit from what used to be by far the Sky Blues’ favorite competition. With his eyes on bigger prizes, Pep Guardiola played a much-weakened lineup against a strong Newcastle side, and paid the price, as a historic quadruple will have to wait at least another year for the Cityzens. They also dropped a shocking Prem match to Wolves, simultaneously breaking their perfect record and invincible season bid, although they had a nice bounce back match in the Champions League against RB Leipzig. After the Leipzig match, City also dropped a league contest to Arsenal, marking their first string of consecutive Prem losses since 2018, but they snapped the short streak with a nervy win over Brighton.

Making Guardiola’s job harder is the fact that City’s starting lineup was missing superstar midfielder Kevin De Bruyne for the first half of the season after a very early injury. De Bruyne, who injured his hamstring in a match against Burnley on August 11, has been making some appearances off of the bench, and finally made a start against Burnley, although he exited after 71 minutes. Now, even more help is coming; Erling Haaland came off the bench against Burnley to make his first appearance in months, and should once more be a fixture in the starting lineup going forward.

Last year, Manchester City finally won the biggest prize in European soccer, the Champions League, and even secured a historic treble, but if City want to retain silverware in the UCL, Premier League and FA Cup, having the right lineup each matchday will be of vital importance as they balance rest and rotation with properly leveraging star power. After a hard-fought 1-1 draw with perennial rivals Liverpool, a dramatic UCL comeback win over Leipzig, and another wacky, brutal match against Tottenham, City haven’t had a moment to breathe. They furthered the damage with a tough loss to a hot Aston Villa side, but finally ended their losing skid with a frantic comeback against Luton Town.

Having secured their first-ever Club World Cup, it’s back to England for the defending champions. After finally winning a match at Tottenham’s new stadium to advance in the FA cup and a convincing win over Burnley, City will be at home to host an embattled Everton side. With Haaland and De Bruyne both good to go, this could be the closest thing we’ve seen to an intact City lineup since matchday one, but there could be some rotations against a mediocre squad- let’s take a look at how City might line up in the Premier League for a key clash against Everton this Saturday (2/10/23).

Manchester City Starting 11 Vs. Everton

• GK- Ederson (Brazil)
• LB- Nathan Aké (Netherlands)
• CB- John Stones (England)
• CB- Rúben Dias (Portugal)
• RB- Kyle Walker (England)
• MF- Rodri (Spain)
• MF- Matheus Nunes (Portugal)
• CAM- Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium)
• LW- Jack Grealish (England)
• ST- Erling Haaland (Norway)/li>
• RW- Phil Foden (England)

There’s no true replacement for de Bruyne, but his absence created an opportunity for up-and-coming Argentine talent Julián Álvarez to get much more time in the lineup in something between de Bruyne’s CAM role and a second striker alongside Haaland when both are healthy. The Norwegian goal machine is officially fit to return, and has finally seen the pitch, and with De Bruyne back as well, it will be fascinating to see how Álvarez fits into Pep’s plans. With City’s depth, Guardiola always has plenty of choices when it comes to setting a lineup, so even with some key injuries, expect a strong XI as all points are vital at this point, although some fairly routine starters could get a day off after a relatively short turnaround after the last match. Stay tuned to see how Guardiola handles this delicate situation, with his team back in control of the Premier League race, but still balancing three major competitions.

Manchester City Position Groups

The Manchester City roster, as with any soccer roster, features 4 separate position groups — Goalkeepers, Defenders, Midfielders, and Forwards. Below is a brief breakdown of each that aims to provide insight into how they stack up against other competition in the Premier League, UCL, and domestic cups.

Manchester City Goalkeepers

After making backbreaking mistakes in more than one past campaign, Man City goalkeeper Ederson might be one of the most vindicated players on the roster following the huge success of 2022-23. He’s as talented as any keeper in the World, and now that he has the trophies to back it up, there’s no doubt that he’s the main man ahead of veterans Stefan Ortega and Scott Carson

Manchester City Defenders

City made a big addition to their defense over the summer; Croatian golden boy Joško Gvardiol, who made a name for himself at the Qatar World Cup and just became the most expensive transfer defender of all time. He can play left back as well as his natural position of center-back, a group that is absolutely loaded at city with veteran stars such as Team England regular John Stones and Portuguese stalwart Rúben Dias. Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji are both versatile players who can slot into a couple of defensive spots, offering Pep plenty of flexibility when it comes to picking a defense, even with star fullback João Cancelo out on loan.

Manchester City Midfielders

With de Bruyne shelved for several months, City were without their best midfielder, and indeed their best player, but the good news is that this position group might also include the club’s second-best option. He plays a much different role than KDB, but Rodri has been absolutely fantastic for City over the past year, as he has earned a well-deserved reputation as perhaps the World’s best defensive midfielder, with some timely goals mixed in. Bernardo Silva and his infinite versatility has also played in the middle of the park, and done an admirable job of it despite his slight stature, while his countryman, Matheus Nunes, has slotted in quite well as an understudy. Veteran Mateo Kovačić has done an excellent job fitting in thus far, while homegrown talent Phil Foden has mixed in between both wings and more of a true midfield role.

Manchester City Forwards

The line between midfield and forward is often blurred at City- such is the case with Belgian youngster Jérémy Doku, who has looked sharp thus far in sky blue. He’s listed as a midfielder, but appears almost exclusively on the wing. The same could be said of England International Jack Grealish, who had an incredibly redemptive 2022-23 after he was initially considered a flop of sorts, but surely lived up to his price tag en route to that historic treble. Julián Álvarez is actually in an opposite situation, where he is listed as a forward but has slotted in as an attacking midfielder in de Bruyne’s absence. With Erling Haaland, however, there’s absolutely no question; he’s a striker through and through, perhaps the best in the entire World, after his arrival immediately spurred City to their greatest season ever.

Manchester City Full Roster

Goalies:
18- Stefan Ortega
31- Ederson
33- Scott Carson

Defenders:
2- Kyle Walker
3- Rúben Dias
5- John Stones
6- Nathan Ake
7- João Cancelo (on loan)
21- Sergio Gomez
24- Joško Gvardiol
25- Manuel Akanji
82- Rico Lewis
97- Joshua Wilson-Esbrand (on loan)

Midfielders:
4- Kalvin Phillips
8- Mateo Kovačić
16- Rodrigo
17- Kevin de Bryune
20- Bernardo Silva
27- Matheus Nunes
32- Maximo Perrone (on loan)
47- Phil Foden
52- Oscar Bobb

Forwards:
9- Erling Haaland
10- Jack Grealish
11- Jérémy Doku
17- Julián Álvarez

Manchester City Starting 11 FAQ

• Who Is Manchester City’s Starting Goalkeeper?
• Who Is Manchester City’s Starting Striker?
• Who Is Manchester City’s Best Player?

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