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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Joe Bray

How Man City should line up vs West Ham

Pep Guardiola must make at least one change to his Manchester City side for the Premier League fixture against West Ham on Sunday.

City go into their final game before a much-needed winter break without Raheem Sterling, who has been sidelined with a hamstring injury.

Sterling's absence will allow the likes of Bernardo Silva or Gabriel Jesus to stake a claim to start on the left, or Guardiola could revert to the 3-4-2-1 formation he has experimented with previously this season.

Guardiola was without Aymeric Laporte and Benjamin Mendy at Spurs for fitness reasons last week, while John Stones was left out of the squad for rotation purposes. All three could return on Saturday.

In a week where Lionel Messi has dominated conversation, Guardiola will be glad to have a football game to focus on - but how will he pick his team against West Ham?

Read how our writers think City should line up on Sunday and pick your own starting XI using the interactive widget:

Pick your own starting XI below:

Joe Bray

Guardiola should use this game to start the winter break early for some players, while still making sure his team has enough quality to get the win.

With City slipping further behind Liverpool last weekend, surely now is the time to start giving Phil Foden more Premier League experience and he should start here. Rodri looked like a player who needs a rest last time out, so Ilkay Gundogan should hold the midfield together instead.

I'd rotate the full-backs, with Joao Cancelo and Benjamin Mendy coming in. Aymeric Laporte should get another run-out before a two-week rest as he continues to regain fitness. In attack, Bernardo can replace Sterling and base his runs forward from the left.

Stuart Brennan

With Sterling out, and Sane not ready for a return, the fates are crying out for

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