Manchester City are aiming to recover from back-to-back defeats when they host Leeds United in the Premier League this Saturday.
The Cityzens were eager to keep pace with table-toppers Arsenal last weekend but their defeat at Newcastle United dented aspirations of a ninth Premier League crown. To make matters worse, Pep Guardiola’s rotated side were then beaten 2–0 on home soil by Bayer Leverkusen as they dropped to ninth in the Champions League standings.
A clash with Leeds offers Man City the opportunity to get back on track after successive setbacks and they will be strong favourites to not only taste victory this weekend, but put their newly-promoted visitors to the sword.
The two sides haven’t locked horns since 2023, but City have tasted victory in their last four duels with the Yorkshire outfit—including a stunning 7–0 win back in December 2021. They had been beaten by the Whites earlier that year, however, losing 2–1 on home soil against their 10-man opponents following a Stuart Dallas brace.
Leeds will be eager to secure another high-profile scalp at the Etihad Stadium, but their recent form suggests they will incur difficulties. They have lost five of their last six matches and tumbled into the relegation zone on goal difference.
City can’t blame their recent blips on injuries, with only two absentees in their squad at present. Both come in the engine room and one is Ballon d’Or winner Rodri, who is still sidelined with a muscle injury sustained at the beginning of the month.
Mateo Kovačić is City’s other treatment room resident and has been out of action since the end of October with an ankle issue.
Guardiola made sweeping changes to his regular lineup for the defeat to Leverkusen, with the likes of Gianluigi Donnarumma, Rúben Dias, Phil Foden, Jérémy Doku and Erling Haaland all moved to the bench. The quintet will be among those restored to the XI on Saturday.
Man City predicted lineup vs. Leeds (4-1-4-1): Donnarumma; Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly; González; Cherki, Silva, Foden, Doku; Haaland.
Leeds also have two injury concerns heading to the Etihad, with summer recruits Anton Stach and Sebastiaan Bornauw both doubtful for the City trip. The former suffered a head injury in the defeat to Aston Villa last weekend and the latter has been missing since mid-October.
Ao Tanaka replaced Stach from the bench against Villa and is likely to partner Ethan Ampadu from the start in midfield. Sean Longstaff will start alongside them to offer extra protection to the back four.
Lukas Nmecha, who has scored in his last two matches, will lead the line once more against his former club.
