Manchester City will take on Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday in their second Champions League group stage match of the season.
Pep Guardiola's side got their European campaign off to the ideal start last week in Spain, as Erling Haaland inspired City to a 4-0 win over Champions League regulars Sevilla. The Blues will look to build on that result this week at the Etihad Stadium against a side they last met at the quarter-final stage in 2021.
Due to the postponement of Saturday's Premier League match against Tottenham following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Guardiola's players have had eight days to prepare for the match. While Aymeric Laporte and Kyle Walker remain sidelined through injury, John Stones is in contention to feature against Dortmund.
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Here's how our team of City writers think City should line-up on Wednesday evening:
Simon Bajkowski
Erling Haaland starts doesn't he. There's no getting away from it when he seems to write every script going and he is coming up against his former club.
Sergio Gomez probably gets another game too, with the thinking that if Kyle Walker is still injured then Nathan Ake likely gets the nod at left-back at Wolves on Saturday with John Stones coming back in. Ilkay Gundogan can be a third former Dortmund star in the City XI after being on the bench in Seville and Riyad Mahrez really needs a start after being on the bench for the last three matches.
Jack Grealish looked promising on his return against Sevilla and can continue that progress on the other flank, while Kevin De Bruyne remains in good form. As Guardiola has said though, both this and the Wolves game will need a big effort from the substitutes.
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Alex Brotherton
While City will be back in action less than 72 hours after facing Dortmund when they travel to Wolves for a Saturday lunchtime kick-off, the eight days rest the players have had should negate the need to too much squad rotation.
With Walker ruled out Joao Cancelo will of course deputise, allowing Sergio Gomez to come in on the left. Manuel Akanji impressed in Seville, but with Nathan Ake fit again he could get the nod.
Ilkay Gundogan enjoyed a superb start to the season, but both Kevin de Bruyne and Bernardo Silva seem undroppable at the moment. Jack Grealish performed well against Sevilla last week on his return from injury, and given that he is City's best attacker when it comes to keeping possession and making that extra pass, Guardiola could start him to help reduce the threat of Dortmund counter-attacks.
Haaland will of course start against his former side.
Dan Murphy
With the players well rested Guardiola is even more certain than usual to name his strongest possible side for the match, especially as City can all but confirm their spot in the knockout stages with a win, as it's hard to see them not easily picking up two wins over FC Copenhagen in their next outings.
Akanji had a solid debut last week alongside Dias so I would keep him in the side, especially as he knows Dortmund well. The rest of the defence should remain unchanged due to Walker's continued absence, with Gomez and Cancelo at full-back.
The one change I would make is to bring out Grealish and push Bernardo further forward into the attack in order to start Gundogan in midfield. The captain will offer a bit more defensive solidity in the middle against a side that can be very dangerous going forward.
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