Summer signing Gvardiol, fellow Croatian capture Mateo Kovacic, Jack Grealish and Cole Palmer all come into the side from the eleven that started at Burnley last Friday.
Rico Lewis, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Julian Alvarez all make way.
John Stones and Ruben Dias who missed last Friday’s opening Premier League victory at Burnley, are both named on the bench.
Bernardo Silva is also absent through illness while Guardiola confirmed at his pre-match press conference on Tuesday that De Bruyne faces a lengthy period on the sidelines after suffering a recurrence of his hamstring injury at Turf Moor.
Teams
CITY: Ederson, Walker (C), Akanji, Gvardiol, Ake, Rodrigo, Kovacic, Foden, Palmer, Grealish, Haaland
Subs: Ortega Moreno, Carson, Dias, Phillips, Stones, Laporte, Alvarez, Bobb, Gomez, Perrone, Lewis, McAtee
SEVILLA: Bounou, Ocampos, Gudelj, Bade, Jordán, Rakitić, En-Nesyri, Oliver Torres, Jesús Navas, Lamela, Acuña
Subs: Dmitrović (GK), Gattoni, Pedrosa, Montiel, Suso, Rafa Mir, Corona, Sow, Gómez, Juanlu, Kike Salas, Bueno
Tactics
Once again, City’s tactical approach will be underscored by flexibility and adaptability as circumstances dictate in the Greek capital.
One of the hallmarks of our success under Pep Guardiola has been the players’ ability to be deployed to great effect in a variety of possessions depending on the circumstances and that will be the case again this evening.
Ederson is named in goal and will be protected by what looks like a back four of Walker, Manuel Akanji, Gvardiol and Nathan Ake.
Rodrigo is set to be the holding midfielder with Kovacic also set to start deep in the engine room with Phil Foden also set to feature in a central role in the absence of De Bruyne.
Grealish, Palmer and Erling Haaland look set to be the attacking trident.
Up for the Cup
This, of course, is the first time City have competed in the UEFA Super Cup and an opportunity to break more exciting new ground in Europe.
However, it’s a prize that manager Pep Guardiola knows all about.
Pep had already tasted success in the event on three earlier occasions in his storied managerial career.
Guardiola guided Barcelona to UEFA Super Cup triumphs in both 2009 when the Catalan club defeated Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0 after extra time and in 2011 when Barca overcame Porto 2-0.
Pep then enjoyed a third Super Cup success in 2013 shortly after taking charge at Bayern Munich, guiding the German side to a 5-4 penalty shoot out win over Chelsea after sides had drawn 2-2 at the end of extra time.
Now comes the opportunity for City to claim our first piece of silverware of the 2023/24 season.
Double delight
City and Sevilla are no strangers and we met twice last season in the group stages of the Champions League.
City began our European campaign, which ultimately ended in glory in Istanbul, with a superb 4-0 win away in southern Spain last September.
That was then followed by a 3-1 victory over the La Liga side in November in a game that saw Rico Lewis make history by becoming the youngest player to score on his maiden Champions League start.
Stats and facts
City have won all four of our previous meetings with Sevilla (all in the UEFA Champions League) by an aggregate score of 12-3.
City are competing in the UEFA Super Cup for the first time.
An English side has won the trophy the last two times they’ve competed in it, with Liverpool beating Chelsea on penalties in 2019, and Chelsea beating Villarreal by the same method in 2021.
Sevilla have been runners up in the UEFA Super Cup more often than any other side. Having won their first such match in 2006, they have lost each of their last five appearances (2007, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2020).
Nine of the last 10 UEFA Super Cup matches have been won by the previous season’s UEFA Champions League winners, with the exception being Atlético de Madrid’s 4-2 win over Real Madrid in 2018.
City are unbeaten in our last 13 matches in all European competition (W8 D5), the Club’s longest ever such run. We have also lost just one of our last 11 meetings with Spanish opponents (W8 D2).
Sevilla have lost four of their last seven meetings with English sides in all European competition (W2 D1), as many as they had in their first 18 such matches (W8 D6 L4). They did beat Manchester United 3-0 in their last such game, however.
Erling Haaland has scored a brace in all three of his games against Sevilla in all competitions, including one with City in last season’s UEFA Champions League.
