Manchester City takes on Chelsea in the opening round of the FA Cup at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday evening.
The Premier League champions claimed a vital 1-0 win against Graham Potter’s men in midweek, with substitutes Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez combining to secure the points at Stamford Bridge.
City host the west London outfit less than two months after eliminating Chelsea from the Carabao Cup courtesy of a 2-0 triumph, with Mahrez and newly-crowned World Cup winner Julian Alvarez on the scoresheet for Pep Guardiola’s side.
The absence of Ruben Dias and Aymeric Laporte from City’s lineup against Chelsea on Thursday meant that John Stones and Nathan Ake started in central defense before Manuel Akanji came on at halftime.
Guardiola is expected to change his squad ahead of upcoming games against Southampton, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, and Wolves.
Julian Alvarez, Kalvin Phillips, and Sergio Gomez were all on the bench at Stamford Bridge but are expected to play in the FA Cup third round.
Rico Lewis impressed after coming on in the second half to replace Kyle Walker against Chelsea and might return to the starting XI with appearances against Liverpool, Leeds, and Everton.
Here are the confirmed lineups for Manchester City’s FA Cup match against fellow 2021 Champions League finalists Liverpool.
City of Manchester
Ortega Moreno starts; Walker, Akanji, Laporte, Gomez; Silva, Rodri, Palmer; Mahrez, Alvarez, Foden.
Substitutes: Ederson, Phillips, Stones, Gundogan, Cancelo, Haaland, Ake, De Bruyne, Lewis
Chelsea
Kepa; Humphreys, Chalobah, Koulibaly, Hall; Jorginho, Kovacic; Ziyech, Gallagher, Mount; Havertz are the starting eleven.
Bettinelli, Azpilicueta, Cucurella, Badiashile, Thiago Silva, Chukwuemeka, Zakaria, Hutchinson, and D. Fofana are the substitutes.
