Manchester City are without captain and defensive stalwart Vincent Kompany for their crunch Premier League tie against Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, it has been revealed.
City manager Pep Guardiola has opted to exclude the Belgian defender from the squad altogether and has also brought in Sergio Aguero in place of the suspended Raheem Sterling.
The Sky Blues trot out in a 3-5-2 formation, with Brazilian custodian Ederson starting behind a back-three of Danilo, John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi.
Kyle Walker (retiring from a one-game suspension)and Benjamin Mendy are the wing-backs for Saturday’s tie with Fernandinho and Kevin De Bruyne employed in their usual central midfield role. David Silva plays behind strikers Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus and the home fans will hope the two forwards can combine well this time round.
For Liverpool, there are couple of notable absentees as Dejan Lovren (calf) and Philippe Coutinho (back) both miss out while new boy Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has to make do with a spot on the bench.
The Reds are playing in their usual 4-3-3 formation with Simon Mignolet back in goal, with a back-four of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joel Matip, Ragnar Klava and Alberto Moreno in front of him.
Klavan is easily the weak link in the visitors’ defence and the likes of Jordan Henderson, Emre Can and Georginio Wijnaldum will have to be on their toes to keep him from being isolated.
Up front, Liverpool’s terrific trio of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane start and will look to hit City with their searing pace on the counter.
Man City: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Otamendi, Mendy, Danilo, Fernandinho, De Bruyne, Silva (c), Aguero and Jesus.
Liverpool: Mignolet, Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Klavan, Moreno, Henderson (c), Can, Wijnaldum, Salah, Mane and Firmino.
Match starts at 12.30 PM GMT/5 PM GMT.