On Thursday, City fielded a quality team at Stamford Bridge and won 1-0 to maintain pressure on Premier League leaders Arsenal. They now welcome Chelsea back to the Etihad for their FA Cup third-round encounter, hoping to earn a third victory over Graham Potter’s team in as many weeks.
Ruben Dias is still sidelined with a hamstring injury, but Pep Guardiola may choose to use Aymeric Laporte after two games missed due to injury. Players on the periphery like Kalvin Phillips, Julian Alvarez, Cole Palmer, Sergio Gomez, and others hope to play in both the Chelsea match and the ensuing Carabao Cup trip to Southampton.
Considering that Riyad Mahrez and Jack Grealish have recently played more, it also seems like Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez require playing time the most in order to get all of the strikers into a decent rhythm. Cole Palmer would want to play in the wide position that comes naturally to him, and Alvarez’s addition will enable that, with Ilkay Gundogan lining up alongside Phillips to add some power from the middle.
Since English domestic football returned, Haaland has not taken a break. A quiet performance by his standards against the same opponents in the middle of the week should indicate that the Norwegian will sit on the bench this weekend.
Alvarez deserves to play a prominent role at the Etihad because he hasn’t started since the World Cup. As substitutes at Stamford Bridge, Grealish and Mahrez both demonstrated their quality. The pair will be hoping to do the same against Graham Potter’s team in the FA Cup.