Fellow Academy graduate Cole Palmer also starts at Wembley Stadium, as Guardiola rewards the two youngsters for their fine form in pre-season and Ferran Torres is included in what is his first game back since returning from his summer break.
Grealish’s place on the bench was expected after the City boss confirmed our new signing was not ready to start and, with that in mind, the Catalan has elected to go with the players who have benefited from the most minutes in our pre-season friendlies.
Bernardo Silva and Rodrigo join Grealish on a bench which blends youth and experience, whilst Kevin De Bruyne is unavailable as he continues to recover from injury.
TEAMS
CITY XI: Steffen, Cancelo, Dias, Ake, Mendy, Fernandinho (C), Gundogan, Palmer, Mahrez, Edozie, Torres.
SUBS: Carson, Grealish, Rodrigo, Bernardo, Sandler, Couto, Doyle, Gomes, Knight.
LEICESTER XI: Schmeichel, Ricardo, Amartey, Soyuncu, Bertrand, Ndidi, Tielemans, Perez, Maddison, Barnes, Vardy.
SUBS: Ward, Thomas, Benkovic, Choudhury, Dewsbury-Hall, Soumare, Albrighton, Iheanacho, Daka.
FORMATION
As is often the case with Guardiola, we will have to wait until kick-off to see how City shape up, but it looks as if we could line up in a 4-3-3 formation.
Joao Cancelo, Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake and Benjamin Mendy will form the back four, with Fernandinho in the midfielder anchor role in front of them.
Ilkay Gundogan and Palmer will play ahead of the Brazilian and behind a front three of Riyad Mahrez, Edozie and Torres, who looks most likely to play through the middle of the attacking trident.
Opportunity knocks
City may well be without a host of senior players, but it is a sign of how well Edozie and Palmer have done in pre-season that they are involved today.
Every trophy is a priority for Guardiola and the inclusion of the two Academy graduates suggests he has faith in their ability to perform at the highest level after impressive performances in our friendlies against Preston North End, Barnsley and Blackpool.
For Palmer it is recognition for how well he has acclimatised since breaking into the senior environment last season, whilst Edozie will hope he can replicate the eye-catching displays which saw him score three times in pre-season.
Guardiola is a manager who gives young players chances and, under the famous Wembley arch against a side who will hope to fight for European places, this is certainly a big opportunity for the two teenagers.
Match stats
- This will be just our second meeting with t at Wembley, but we were victorious in the other, winning 1-0 in the 1969 FA Cup final.
- In the 20 games we have faced the Foxes outside of league competition, we have won 11, drawn seven and lost only two.
- City have won the Community Shield in three of our last four appearances in the match, as many as we had in our previous eight (W3 L5).
- Excluding 2019 (when City appeared as double winners), the FA Cup winners have won the Community Shield in five of the last six campaigns, with the exception being our 2-0 win over Chelsea in 2018.
- Riyad Mahrez has played against Leicester six times since joining City in 2018, with the Algerian registering two goals and two assists in five starts against his former club over this period.
