Pep decided to switch up his starting formation and lineup choice to little avail. City looked toothless and lifeless in the Manchester Derby. I would expect the diamond 4-4-2 experiment is over.
Khusanov returns to the starting XI to allow Gvardiol to play left-back, where he has been most impactful as an attacking force. Khusanov’s profile is maybe something will want to combat Mateta.
Gonzalez comes back in to the starting lineup alongside Gundogan. Foden plays in the 10.
Savinho and Doku return, as City have looked at their best as an attacking threat with true wingers in the starting lineup. Grealish has seen an uptick in his minutes recently and could be preferred to Doku.
Van Hecke is suspended after his sending off against Brighton in Gameweek 31. With Brighton short on defensive options, Cashin makes his first start of the season at centre-back alongside Dunk.
Hurzeler stated in his Friday press conference that Mitoma is a doubt for this game with a minor heel injury. Adingra is the most likely direct replacement, but it is also possible that O’Reilly or Joao Pedro plays out on the left.
Faes is dealing with a minor injury that will likely keep him out of this weekend’s game vs Brighton.
Van Nistelrooy spoke glowingly about Pereira and his ability to invert into midfield, forming a 3-box-3 formation, and get Leicester on the ball and up the pitch.
He spoke about Pereira doing this allowing Leicester to play true wingers alongside Vardy, which they have not been doing of late. Expect Mavdidi and one of Ayew or Reid to play on the wings in this game as Van Nistelrooy tries a new system to see what kind of boost it could provide to a struggling side.
Buonanotte cannot play vs his parent club.
Players to watch:
Pereira:
Okoli:
Ayew:
Mavdidi:
Nottingham Forest vs Everton (Saturday 3pm kick-off):
Moreno is now available, after missing out last week as he was unable to play against his parent club. He comes in to play left-back while Williams shifts to right-back.
Speaking on Chris Wood and Elanga, Nuno revealed “On all of them (I am hopeful). It can be all of them, it can be none. We don’t know. It depends on how they recover and how they feel.” It sounds like both have a decent chance of being available to play but it will be a game-day decision.
Emery and Villa will likely be prioritising the 2nd leg of their Champions League Quarter-Final clash with PSG, which takes place on Tuesday. Therefore their key players will likely be rested.
Villa got a much needed victory against Nottingham Forest in Gameweek 31 with a similar ‘weakened’ lineup.
An unchanged back 4 from Gameweek 31.
Onana comes into midfield for Tielemans who will likely be rested for PSG.
Asensio did not start against PSG and so will be fresh to start this game.
Malen and Ramsey start on the wings with Rogers rested for PSG.
Watkins starts up-front with Rashford also benched, saving his legs for PSG.
While Arteta said in his press conference that ‘it is not only about the Real Madrid game’, you would have to think that absolutely is his priority. Arteta’s words have also famously been hard to trust so we are going to take that with a grain of salt.
Zinchenko comes in to play left-back for the young Lewis-Skelly who’s minutes need to be managed and he will likely be rested for Real Madrid on Wednesday.
Odegaard was rested in Gameweek 31, so it would stand to reason Rice is now the one who will get some rest ahead of Wednesday.
Timber, Lewis-Skelly, Rice, Saka and Martinelli all rested for Wednesday. All are either young, have just returned from injury or have played a lot of football and need their minutes managed.
Players to watch:
White:
Zinchenko
Odegaard:
Merino:
Sterling:
Games started:
Flekken: 30/31
Ajer: 16/31
Collins: 30/31
Van Den Berg: 22/31
Lewis Potter: 22/31
Norgaard: 27/31
Janelt: 25/31
Damsgaard: 26/31
Mbeumo: 30/31
Schade: 18/31
Wissa: 26/31
An unchanged starting lineup from Gameweek 31 outside of Janelt coming back into midfield for Yarmoliuk.
An unchanged starting XI from Ipswich’s 2-1 loss to Wolves in Gameweek 31.
Liverpool vs West Ham (Sunday 2pm kick-off):
Games started:
Alisson: 22/31
Bradley: 2/31
Konate: 24/31
Van Dijk: 31/31
Robertson: 26/31
Gravenberch: 31/31
Mac Allister: 28/31
Szoboszlai: 24/31
Salah: 31/31
Gakpo: 17/31
Diaz: 23/31
Bradley is fully fit and set to start at right-back. He is the future of the position for Liverpool with Trent set to leave.
Diaz has had a couple of good performances recently and scored against Fulham last week. He returns to the starting lineup for Jota. The Gakpo-Diaz-Salah front 3 tore West Ham apart in the reverse fixture earlier in the season.
Potter may well elect to go with a back 5 against Liverpool. Mavropanos comes in to play one of the 3 centre back roles.
The more experienced Emerson comes in for the young Scarles. Tasking a youngster with facing Salah would be managerial malpractice.
Ward-Prowse will likely play in midfield with Soucek with Alvarez dropping back to the bench. Potter has seemed to prefer Ward-Prowse over Alvarez, and in a game where West Ham creating and capitalising on any chances they can create will be key, Ward-Prowse’s set piece ability gives him a leg-up.
Cunha returns after a 4 game suspension however Wolves Manager Vitor Pereira suggested that Wolves starting XI would be unchanged as they are in very good form that has carried them completely out of a relegation battle into safety.
Spurs attack immediately improved after 2 goalless games when Porro returned to the starting lineup. They have scored 4 in their last 2 games.
Van De Ven may be being saved for Europa League games, which is likely Ange’s priority at this point of the season.
Udogie played in Thursdays’ Europa League clash with Frankfurt, so Spence likely starts at left-back against Wolves.
This is the midfield Ange has settled on as his best. All 3 players have significantly outplayed any counterparts.
Tel and Odobert come in after Son and Johnson started back-to-back games in Gameweek 31 and then against Frankfurt. Son will likely need a rest given his age. Odobert has been in good form.
An unchanged starting lineup from Gameweek 31’s win over Leicester.
Gordon has returned to training on Thursday and Howe said they will make a late call on his availability. After such a lengthy layoff, along with being a late call and with Barnes scoring last week, it’s a safe bet Gordon starts on the bench in Gameweek 32.
The only change from Gameweek 31 is Zirzkee returning to the starting lineup, with Casemiro dropping to the bench and Bruno moving deeper to play alongside Ugarte. Casemiro is unlikely to start 3 games in a week given his age.
An unchanged starting lineup from Gameweek 32’s draw against West Ham.
Christie has been confirmed as out injured for the rest of the season by Iraola.
Kluivert and Tavernier are both going to be late calls for this game, but from the language Iraola used you would have to lean towards either one making the bench at best.
It’s difficult to make a case for Marco Silva making any changes from the starting lineup that got a surprise 3-2 win over league leaders Liverpool.
Pereira, Sessegnon and Muniz all played very well last weekend and it is hard to see any of them being dropped.
Players to watch:
Pereira:
Sessegnon:
Muniz:
Newcastle vs Crystal Palace (Wednesday 7:30pm kick-off):
Gordon should be fully fit to start against Palace on the Wednesday. This will be made more likely if he is able to get some minutes under his belt off the bench against Man City on Saturday.
Guehi returns to the starting lineup after serving his 1 game suspension against Man City on Saturday.
11 Apr, 2025
