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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Simon Bajkowski & Joe Bray & Alex Brotherton

How Man City should line up vs Nottingham Forest in Premier League

Pep Guardiola may make changes to his Manchester City side for the visit of newly-promoted Nottingham Forest.

Guardiola saw City rescue a 4-2 win after falling two goals behind at half-time vs Crystal Palace at the weekend, and will be hoping for a more controlled performance against a Forest side who have started life back in the Premier League in promising fashion.

With this fixture the first of six in 18 days, Guardiola could start to rotate his side with bigger tests against Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund and Tottenham to come next week. Erling Haaland may get a rest, with Julian Alvarez waiting for his chance, with Nathan Ake, Jack Grealish and Kalvin Phillips all doubts after missing the Palace game.

ALSO READ: Pep Guardiola identifies control fix to Man City defensive issues

Read how our writers think City should line up vs Forest below and use the interactive team selector to pick your best starting XI:

Simon Bajkowski

I'd start Haaland again here. I know he needs a rest at some point but there is Villa at the weekend and the big Norwegian can always come off early against Forest if he has already won the game.

At the back, there aren't many options owing to the lengthy injury list. John Stones and Ruben Dias have to start because they are the only two fit centre-backs but I would start Sergio Gomez and move Joao Cancelo over to give Kyle Walker time to reset and recover after two chastening weekends for him.

Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne are a must in midfield, and Ilkay Gundogan was also excellent off the bench. Bernardo has to start after his performance in midweek and I'd give Mahrez another whirl despite underwhelming against Palace.

Pick your best team here:

Joe Bray

I'd use this game to give Erling Haaland a rest, even after his brilliant hat-trick. The midweek games have re-started now, and there are tricky Champions League games and more difficult Premier League games coming up in the next three weeks. Plus, Forest at home could be a perfect chance to test out Julian Alvarez from the start in the league.

As much as Guardiola may want to rotate his defence, injuries mean it should stay the same as the Palace win, with scope for a bigger role for Sergio Gomez off the bench. Moving forward, I'd rest Bernardo Silva from the start, and bring him on later for Kevin De Bruyne so both are in good shape for the next few games.

With Alvarez in the middle, Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez should play out wide, with Cole Palmer another who should be called upon from the bench. Forest won't make things easy at all, but City should still be able to rotate some players and get a comfortable win.

Alex Brotherton

This seems the perfect opportunity to give Julian Alvarez his full competitive debut, something that he fully deserves after an impressive cameo appearance off the bench against Crystal Palace. Erling Haaland won't be best pleased to drop out, but Guardiola has made it clear that the Norwegian striker will not start every game.

It seems unlikely that Pep Guardiola will make wholesale changes to his starting XI - that has not been his style in recent years and he rarely does that in league games - so I'd expect the likes of Phil Foden, Riyad Mahrez and Bernardo Silva all to start. Kevin de Bruyne could be given a rest ahead of trips to Aston Villa and Sevilla, but if so he'll still probably come off the bench at some stage.

Given the injuries to Aymeric Laporte and Nathan Ake the back four will likely remain unchanged.

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