The Dutch defender was an unused sub in our dramatic late win over Wolves but will be in action for the first time since being sidelined since sustaining a hamstring injury in September whilst on international duty.
Stefan Ortega Moreno, Manuel Akanji, Matheus Nunes and Phil Foden also come into the side for our third game of this competition after a draw with Inter and win at Slovan Bratislava.
Ederson, Ruben Dias, Mateo Kovacic and Josko Gvardiol drop to the bench from the 2-1 win at Molineux while Jeremy Doku and Jack Grealish are not fully fit.
TEAMS
CITY XI: Ortega Moreno, Lewis, Stones, Akanji, Ake, Gundogan, Bernardo (C), Nunes, Savinho, Foden, Haaland
Subs: Ederson, Carson, Dias, Kovacic, Gvardiol, O’Reilly, McAtee
SPARTA PRAGUE XI: Vindahl, Kairinen, Olatunji, Birmancevic, Preciado, Laci, Haraslin, Sorensen, Panak (C), Rynes, Vitik
Subs: Vorel, Surovcik, Suchomel, Solbakken, Ross, Pavelka, Albion Rrahmani, Danek, Sadilek, Pesek, Wiesner, Krasniqi
TACTICS
The statistics suggest that Sparta will be the latest side to play with transitions, getting the ball to the other end of the pitch faster than most.
No team has had fewer passes per sequence (1.95) or 10+ open play passing sequences (two) in this season’s Champions League, with the Czech side second for direct speed (2.2m/s), which measures how quickly the ball is progressed upfield in open play.
City are likely to have a back four of Rico Lewis, Akanji, Ake and John Stones to counter any breaks.
Pep Guardiola also praised Nunes for his determination against Wolves and he will start in midfield with Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva, wearing the armband tonight.
Savinho and Foden can play on either side of Erling Haaland, who will lead the line.
THE HUNDRED CLUB
Ilkay Gundogan will make his 100th appearance in the Champions League tonight becoming just the 48th player to bring up the century.
The majority have been with City, 69 go into this evening, with the rest split between Borussia Dortmund and last season at Barcelona.
It will be a huge achievement with Fernandinho the only other City player to pass 100 appearances with the majority of them coming in the sky blue of City.
Among those 99 games so far, three have been finals with the last of them unforgettably in 2023, when he lifted the trophy following our win over Chelsea in Istanbul.
His desire to win another remains as he keeps pushing City forward.
He’s one of just five players at least five line-breaking passes that have led to a shot in the first two Champions League matches.
Incidentally, three of the five are City players with Jack Grealish and Rico Lewis joining him as creators in chief.
CZECH MATES
Tonight will be our first ever clash with Sparta Prague but we faced Czech side Viktoria Plzen in the group stage of the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League winning 3-1 and 4-2 at the Etihad.
It is perhaps a surprise that we have never met before, given the Czech champions have spent 39 seasons competing in Europe, including 25 seasons in the Champions League or European Cup.
Their campaign began in Dublin in July when they beat Shamrock Rovers before successfully navigating another two qualifying rounds with wins over Romanian side FCSB and Swedish club Malmo.
And Sparta’s strong European form has continued with a 3-0 victory over RB Salzburg on matchday one followed by a 1-1 draw away to Stuttgart.
With the new 36-team format, like City, a strong start puts them with a strong challenge for the top-eight or nine to 24 positions that will secure a two-legged knockout tie as they look to reach the last-16 for the first time since 2004.
