Manchester City faces Nottingham Forest at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday looking to get back to winning ways.
A defeat to Liverpool on the weekend extended Manchester City's run to seven games without a victory. Pep Guardiola's team last won back on Oct. 26 in a 1–0 victory at home over Southampton in the Premier League. Since then, the reigning champion was knocked out of the EFL Cup, dropped 12 points in the league and four in the Champions League. The side was expected to struggle in the wake of Rodri's season-ending knee injury, but this is a crisis.
Guardiola has to right the ship and fast. Manchester City trails Liverpool by 11 points for the top spot in the table and has to start rattling off positive results. Otherwise, it risks getting leapfrogged by its opponent on Wednesday.
Here's how Manchester City could line up against Nottingham Forest.
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Manchester City Predicted Lineup vs. Nottingham Forest (4-2-3-1)
GK: Ederson—The Ortega swap didn't work out in Guardiola's favor. The Brazilian returns to his place at the starter.
LB: Joško Gvardiol—The Croatian comes in to start on the left as Pep looks to find a stable four he can trust.
CB: Manuel Akanji—Akanji keeps his place at the back.
CB: Rúben Dias—Dias returns as well to the lineup keeping the center back pairing the same.
RB: Kyle Walker—The longtime defender urged fans to stick with the club through this struggling period.
CDM: İlkay Gündoğan—Hard to imagine Gündoğan expected the season to turn out like this when he returned from Barcelona.
CDM: Bernardo Silva—Silva starts to complete the midfield pairing after completing the full 90 at Anfield.
LW: Jeremy Doku—Doku starts out left looking to provide width, pace and a goal scoring threat.
CAM: Kevin De Bruyne—Guardiola said his star midfielder's fitness has improved in recent days. If ready to start, he's in at the 10.
RW: Savinho—Rico Lewis at RW didn't work against Liverpool. The summer signing comes back into the starting side.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Manchester City Predicted Lineup vs. Nottingham Forest: Premier League.
