Manchester City start their Premier League campaign away at Turf Moor against Burnley FC, who will be coached by City legend Vincent Kompany. In anticipation of the league opener, Last Word on Football has produced a predicted City lineup using the latest news and updates, including information on Kevin De Bruyne’s status for the match.
Manchester City Face Burnley in Premier League Opener
How Pep Guardiola’s Side Lined Up in Pre-season
During City’s preseason campaign, Pep Guardiola used a relatively consistent defensive lineup. Ederson, Ruben Dias, John Stones and Kyle Walker were key starters during their summer tour. At left back, however, there was much more rotation as Nathan Ake, Manuel Akanji, and Aymeric Laporte all registered minutes.
Jack Grealish and Bernardo Silva featured on the left and right of midfield, respectively, while new signing Matteo Kovacic started alongside Rodri in the centre of midfield. Erling Haaland started up front as expected and was supported by Julian Alvarez, who started alongside and behind the Golden Boot winner across multiple games.
Kevin De Bruyne was a notable absence during City’s summer tour. The playmaker picked up a hamstring injury and was substituted 36 minutes into City’s tense Champions League Final victory over Internazionale. However, in a huge boost to his side, the Belgian international came off the bench to play almost 40 minutes against Arsenal in Sunday’s FA Community Shield tie.
Watch: I (Probably) Insulted Your Club – Our Premier League Predictions For the New Season
Manchester City’s Recent Tactical Set Up
Guardiola’s side averaged 65.2% possession in the league last season and as a result, they will be expected to dominate possession and control the tempo of play against Kompany’s Championship winning side.
City’s most notable tactical development in recent months has been their tendency to use conservative, physically dominant central defenders in full-back positions. Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji have been particularly important in this system due to their composure on the ball and ability to assist in the early stages of possession. Josko Gvardiol is highly likely to miss out as a result of not playing in this system yet.
Using physical and defensive-minded full-backs also allows them to push up John Stones to play alongside Rodri, creating a numerical advantage in midfield and distracting opposition players that would otherwise be responsible for tracking key playmakers such as Foden, De Bruyne, or Silva.
Manchester City Get Major Kevin De Bruyne Boost
The Cityzens will start their Premier League campaign with no significant injuries. Ake did pick up a knock towards the end of preseason that kept him out of the Community shield tie last weekend, but Pep Guardiola revealed in his press conference on Thursday that the Dutchman has been training well and is ready to be called upon at Turf Moor.
It was doubtful that De Bruyne would be ready for the start of the season, but fans will have been encouraged by his promising performance from the bench on Sunday. Speaking to YahooSports on Monday, the 32-year-old playmaker stated that his recovery was “way ahead of schedule”, having originally aimed to return for City’s Super Cup tie against Sevilla on August 16th. Despite being uncertain on his match fitness, he went on to say “I’ve probably trained five/six times with the team. I played 45 minutes at a good level so I’m happy”.
Manchester City Predicted Lineup in a 4-1-4-1 vs Burnley
Ederson; Walker, Stones, Dias, Ake; Rodri; Kovacic, De Bruyne, Grealish, Silva; Haaland.
Main Image Credit: Brad Tutterow on Wikimedia, CC BY 2.0
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