Stefan Ortega, Aymeric Laporte and Cole Palmer all started our epic Carabao Cup victory over Liverpool on Thursday but are on the bench this evening, with Ederson, John Stones and Jack Grealish all coming into the starting lineup.
18-year-old Rico Lewis continues at right-back after his fine display against Liverpool, and Kalvin Phillips is in the squad and among the substitutes after returning from World Cup duty with England.
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Teams
Leeds United
XI: Meslier, Kristensen, Struijk, Koch, Cooper, Forshaw, Roca, Greenwood, Gnonto, Rodrigo, Aaronson.
Subs: Robles, Ayling, Firpo, Llorente, Gyabi, Klich, Summerville, Harrison, Gelhardt.
City
XI: Ederson, Lewis, Akanji, Stones, Ake, Rodrigo, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Mahrez, Grealish, Haaland
Subs: Ortega, Walker, Phillips, Cancelo, Laporte, Bernardo, Gomez, Foden, Palmer
Tactics
It’s 4-3-3 for City.
Ederson, one of the world’s finest goalkeepers and the man so important in establishing our buildup play, is back in goal after his World Cup exploits.
Rico Lewis was brilliant on Thursday’s Carabao Cup victory at the Etihad, and he keeps his place at right-back. Watch out for him drifting infield, a clear tactic Pep Guardiola has worked on with the youngster during the World Cup break.
Indeed, at aged 18 years and 37 days, Lewis is the youngest Englishman to start a Premier League game for City since Micah Richards in May 2006 vs Blackburn (17 years, 317 days).
Nathan Ake continues at left-back, with John Stones returning to partner Manuel Akanji at centre-half.
Rodri will screen the back four, allowing Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne the chance to get forward and supplement our attacks.
Jack Grealish is back in the starting lineup on the left of our front three, with Riyad Mahrez, fresh from scoring a beauty against Liverpool, on the right.
And it’s 24-goal Erling Haaland who leads the attack.
A game of huge importance
This evening’s game is our first of eight in 26 days, with the opposition we face during that period of the highest calibre.
After this difficult trip to Yorkshire, we host Everton on New Year’s Eve, before playing six games next month, starting with two against Chelsea, in both the Premier League and FA Cup, and a trip to Southampton in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup.
Then it’s three Premier League games in nine days – the Manchester derby at Old Trafford (14 January), before home matches against Tottenham (19 January) and Wolves (22 January).
And with City eight points behind leaders Arsenal, albeit with a game in hand, it makes tonight a vital Premier League fixture.
“I would have preferred another opponent than Leeds at this moment after the World Cup,” Pep Guardiola said in the buildup to this evening’s game.
“They are the most aggressive team in the Premier League, statistically. They don’t give you time to think and you have to be precise.
“After our defeat against Brentford, and with how strong Arsenal are, as well as the opponents who [can] come from behind, we have to be alert and careful, because if the distance is bigger, it will be so difficult to catch them.”
WATCH: City 3-2 Liverpool: Tunnel Cam
Match stats
Head-to-head
Manchester City scored 11 goals without reply against Leeds last season, winning 7-0 at home and 4-0 at Elland Road.
City can win three consecutive league matches versus Leeds for the first time since a run of four from 1980 to 1983.
Leeds United
Leeds United’s final two league games before the World Cup were a 4-3 home win against Bournemouth and a 4-3 defeat at Tottenham. They came back from 3-1 down versus the Cherries and were ahead three times at Spurs before losing.
The Whites are one short of equalling the club Premier League record for most goals conceded in a calendar year: 70 in 2003.
Jesse Marsch’s side have won three of their seven home league fixtures this season, only one fewer than their total number of victories at Elland Road last term.
Their most recent Premier League home win against the reigning champions was 1-0 versus Arsenal in May 1999.
Rodrigo and Crysencio Summerville both scored in each of Leeds’ final four league matches before the World Cup. It was the first time a pair of team-mates had netted in four successive Premier League games.
Manchester City
Manchester City are the only side in the last 13 seasons to not be top on Christmas Day but still go on to lift the title, having done so on three occasions in 2013-14, 2018-19 and 2020-21.
They are aiming to avoid losing consecutive league games for the first time since December 2018.
Pep Guardiola‘s side have not scored from open play in any of their last four away matches in all competitions.
Guardiola has lost eight Premier League matches as a manager in December, at least twice as many as in any other month.
