Fresh off suffering its first Premier League defeat of the season, Manchester City must travel to Portugal to face Sporting CP in the Champions League.
For the first time in over a year, Manchester City lost back-to-back matches. The defending English champions were eliminated from the Carabao Cup by Tottenham Hotspur on Oct. 30 and then stunned by Bournemouth in the Premier League on Nov. 2. City lost both matches by a scoreline of 2–1.
The defeats came amid a growing injury crisis for Pep Guardiola's side, but the team seems to be on the right track in terms of recovery. Kyle Walker returned to the starting XI while Jérémy Doku featured off the bench. Savinho and Kevin De Bruyne were unused substitutes, but even their presence in the squad was an injury boost for City.
Guardiola still must compensate for the players he is missing, including Rodri, John Stones, Rúben Dias, Jack Grealish and Oscar Bobb, if City wants to collect all three points from Tuesday's clash.
Here's what City's XI could look like against Sporting CP on Nov. 5.
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Manchester City Predicted Lineup vs. Sporting CP (4-2-3-1)
GK: Ederson—The Brazilian will look to keep City's fourth consecutive clean sheet in the 2024–25 Champions League.
RB: Rico Lewis—Expect the 19-year-old to return to Guardiola's XI after Kyle Walker played an underwhelming 90 minutes at the weekend.
CB: Manuel Akanji—Akanji will have the tough task of silencing Viktor Gyökeres, who comes into Tuesday's fixture with 20 goals across all competitions on the season.
CB: Nathan Aké—Without Dias and Stones available, Aké will slot in alongside Akanji for the second consecutive match.
LB: Joško Gvardiol—The Croatian scored City's only goal against Bournemouth, but it was not enough to send the defending English champions home with any points. Guardiola will rely on Gvardiol to once again contribute to the team's attack in the UCL.
DM: Mateo Kovačić—Kovačić's precise passing and defensive prowess gives City a reliable, consistent replacement for Rodri, who suffered a season-ending ACL injury.
DM: İlkay Gündoğan—The ex-Barcelona man has yet to reach the form he enjoyed in his first stint with City, but his presence alongside Kovačić offers greater stability in the middle of the park, especially on the counter attack.
RW: Jérémy Doku—After only playing five minutes plus stoppage time in his return from injury on Saturday, Doku could be in for his first start in four matches.
AM: Bernardo Silva—With so many injures hitting City's attackers, the 30-year-old's playmaking is much-needed for a side struggling to score goals. Silva is the obvious choice to receive a rest for the midweek feature, though, so Phil Foden could take his place in the XI.
LW: Matheus Nunes—Expect Nunes to get the nod against his former club. The 26-year-old already has one goal and two assists in the Champions League this season.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Manchester City Predicted Lineup vs. Sporting CP: Champions League.
