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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
George Smith

Man City fans react to starting line-up vs Fulham as Pep Guardiola takes no risks

Manager Pep Guardiola has named his starting line-up for Manchester City's FA Cup fourth-round showdown with Championship side Fulham at the Etihad Stadium.

City, who are unbeaten in their last 17 meetings with the Cottagers in all competitions, will be looking to get back to winning ways after playing out a 1-1 draw with Southampton at St Mary's prior to the Premier League's winter break.

Aymeric Laporte salvaged a point for City following Kyle Walker-Peters' impressive first half strike, but it was not enough to extend their winning run in the Premier League to 13 matches.

Guardiola, who has won the FA Cup once since being appointed City boss in 2016, has made six changes to his side, in a bid to get back to winning ways and avoid a major FA Cup upset.

Ederson, Ruben Dias, Bernardo Silva, Raheem Sterling, Laporte and Rodri have dropped out of the side, meaning Zack Steffen, John Stones, Nathan Ake, Ilkay Gundogan, Riyad Mahrez, back from the Africa Cup of Nations, and Fernandinho have come in.

Sterling and Bernardo are amongst the substitutes, but injured duo Cole Palmer and Gabriel Jesus, as expected, have not been included in the matchday squad.

Having made six changes to his starting line-up, Guardiola will be hoping that it does not disrupt his side's recent run of good form, as they bid to reach the fifth-round for the first time in two years.

It is Guardiola's decision to go with such a strong line-up that has attracted the most attention from City's supporters in the immediate aftermath of the team news being confirmed.

Below, MEN Sport has taken a look at what some of City's supporters have had to say in response to Guardiola taking no risks on social media.

As you can see from the messages displayed in the tweets above, some City supporters believe Guardiola may have gone for too strong a starting line-up, whilst others have welcomed the decision, as the Blues look to avoid an upset.

City starting line-up: Steffen; Walker, Stones, Ake, Cancelo; Fernandinho, Gundogan, De Bruyne; Mahrez, Foden, Grealish.

Substitutes: Ederson, Dias, Sterling, Zinchenko, Laporte, Rodri, Bernardo, Delap, McAtee.

This afternoon's contest at the Etihad Stadium kicks-off at 3:00pm and you can follow all of the action live on our matchday blog, which you can access by clicking here.

Sign up to our City newsletter so you never miss an update from the Etihad Stadium this season.

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