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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Daniel Murphy

Stones and Walker to start — Man City fans name ideal lineup vs Aston Villa in title decider

Manchester City fans want Kyle Walker and John Stones to return to the starting XI to face Aston Villa.

City will bring their season to a close on Sunday and they know that if pick up all three points then they will be crowned Premier League champions for a fourth time in five years, regardless of what happens elsewhere. However, should they fail to win then the door would be open for Liverpool to steal in and clinch the trophy when they face Wolves.

With no other matches to come and everything on the line, City fans want Pep Guardiola to throw caution to the wind and go all out when naming his starting XI by selecting both Stones and Walker in it. The Blues have been suffering a minor injury crisis at the back in recent weeks, with the England duo and Ruben Dias all being ruled out for the season by the manager.

ALSO READ: Pep Guardiola's thinking on Man City stars will be revealed by team selection vs Aston Villa

However, while Dias is still sidelined, Walker and Stones both returned to training on Thursday to raise hopes they could be involved in the final day and relieve the strain on a makeshift back-line. Walker has missed the last six league games due to an ankle injury and hasn't played since the Champions League semi-final second leg to Real Madrid, in which he suffered another blow to his ankle.

Stones, meanwhile, has been out of action since rushing back from injury to play in the first leg against Los Blancos and lasting only 36 minutes. While there's a danger of making the same mistake again against Villa, fans want both to start for such a crucial game.

The pair would replace Aleks Zinchenko and Fernandinho in defence to join Aymeric Laporte and Joao Cancelo. Otherwise, the team almost picks itself with supporters only wanting one more change to be made.

The midfield would be left alone, though, with Kevin De Bruyne, Rodri and Bernardo Silva lining up in the middle. In attack, Riyad Mahrez and Gabriel Jesus would keep their places but there are calls for Phil Foden to come back into the side in place of Jack Grealish.

Starting XI City fans want to see vs Aston Villa: Ederson; Walker, Stones, Laporte, Cancelo; De Bruyne, Rodri, Bernardo; Mahrez, Jesus, Foden.

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