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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Daniel Murphy

Stones and Sterling to start — Man City predicted line up vs Aston Villa in Premier League fixture

Pep Guardiola will be forced into at least one change to his Manchester City line up for the match against Aston Villa on Wednesday, which will come in the heart of the defence.

Aymeric Laporte will miss the match after receiving his fifth booking of the season in Sunday's 2-1 victory over West Ham — meaning he must now serve a one-match suspension.

It shouldn't impact City too much, however, as Guardiola has been rotating his centre-backs anyway this season and John Stones should seamlessly take the Spanish international's place in the side.

Changes may be few and far between elsewhere on the pitch, however, with the Blues boss still likely to be operating with limited numbers as some of his injured stars face races to be fit.

Jack Grealish will be desperate to be available for the trip to his boyhood club but he hasn't played for City since picking up an injury in the recent international break. Phil Foden also suffered a knock while on England duty, though he managed to start in the 3-0 win over Everton before feeling discomfort.

Both have returned to training, though, and will be assessed ahead of the encounter with Villa.

Kevin De Bruyne, however, is less likely to play. The Belgian playmaker has completed his isolation period after contracting Covid-19 in Belgium, but Guardiola is wary of throwing him straight back into action due to the draining effect the virus has had on other players.

"Kevin is back but he needs time to be fit," he said.

"All the people who had Covid say it drains them and Kevin needs time to show his form. Phil and Jack are still in the same situation, maybe tomorrow they can play but not a lot of minutes. We are going to see after they train today and the rest we have just 14, 15, players."

With such few options, it's unlikely that Guardiola will make many more alterations to his side, especially against a team who are enjoying a new lease of life under new manager Steven Gerrard and with a potentially easier match against Watford and a Champions League dead rubber versus RB Leipzig, in which much more changes could be made, to come next week.

In fact, aside from Stones coming in, City may well line up with the same starting 11 that edged past West Ham at the weekend. This would see both Raheem Sterling and Riyad Mahrez — who have enjoyed an upturn in form over the last month — remain in the side.

Predicted City starting XI vs Aston Villa: Ederson; Walker Stones, Dias, Cancelo; Bernardo, Rodri, Gundogan; Mahrez, Jesus, Sterling.

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