Only Ederson, Nicolas Otamendi, Fernandinho and David Silva survive; Leroy Sane starts on the bench.
LIVE: Schalke v City: Matchday Centre
Starting XI:
Ederson, Walker, Laporte, Otamendi, Fernandinho, D Silva (c), De Bruyne, Bernardo, Gundogan, Sterling, Aguero
Subs: Muric, Danilo, Foden, Kompany, Mahrez, Zinchenko, Sane
Probable formation: 3-4-3
City look to be lining up with Walker, Laporte and Otamendi across the back with Fernandinho dropping deep when required.
David Silva, Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne will play as a more advanced midfield trio with Bernardo, Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero up front.
Blues look to gain the upper hand
City will look to get an advantage to take back to the Etihad.
On current form, the Blues start as strong favourites overall, but the hosts will hope to prove that there are no easy games in this competition.
Schalke are currently 14th in the Bundesliga having lost 11 of their 22 games.
Stats and facts:
City have played Schalke three times previously in European competition. In 1970 the Blues lost 1-0 in the European Cup Winners’ Cup semi-final first leg, winning the return leg at Maine Road 5-1 to progress to the final.
The last meeting between the clubs was in the UEFA Cup group stage back in 2008, with City winning 2-0 in Gelsenkirchen courtesy of goals from Benjani and Stephen Ireland – Vincent Kompany is the only surviving player from that game who is still with the Club.
The Blues are unbeaten in seven games against Bundesliga opposition, winning six and drawing one since a 1-0 defeat to Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich in 2014.
Schalke have exited at the Round of 16 stage on each of their past three attempts.
City have reached the Champions League knockout stage for a sixth year in succession.
Schalke have won just four of 17 meetings with English teams.
Schalke’s 1-1 draw with Wolfsburg in 2015 was notable because of the two scorers – Leroy Sane for the hosts and Kevin De Bruyne for the visitors.
