Manchester City haven't been helped by the fixture list around either of their meetings with Liverpool this season.
Back in October when City and Liverpool shared a high-quality 2-2 draw at Anfield, City travelled to Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain in the seven days leading up to the game. And ahead of this Sunday's showdown at the Etihad, City will be six days into a 12-day run that sees them face Liverpool twice and Atletico Madrid twice in three competitions that could make or break their hopes of a treble.
For Pep Guardiola, navigating those fixtures won't simply come down to picking his best team for each game, but making the most out of his big squad for all four games. Against Liverpool, Guardiola's selection at Anfield for that 2-2 draw could give some clues over how he intends to approach Sunday's title-defining fixture.
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The defence on Sunday will likely be made up of the returning Kyle Walker at right-back, John Stones and Aymeric Laporte in the centre, and Joao Cancelo at left-back. Ruben Dias played at Anfield, but will miss out at the Etihad through injury, so Stones can replace him. Even though Nathan Ake has done well for the last two games, having natural full-backs seems necessary.
Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne are other almost-certain starters and you would be brave to bet against Bernardo Silva starting after his brilliant display in the return fixture. That might mean Ilkay Gundogan drops to the bench, but such a move might be wise to keep him fresh for the Atletico return fixture.
Gundogan is often used if Guardiola wants control of a midfield, which will surely be his intention against Liverpool with so much at stake. He played all three of his midfielders against Atletico, but that knocked Phil Foden down to the bench and he must fancy his chances of starting at the weekend.
Foden changed the game against Atletico and scored a brilliant goal at Anfield. He will be fresh and full of momentum to start against Liverpool, so is likely to be one of the changes from Tuesday's Champions League win.
In October, Foden started on the left, with Jack Grealish in the centre and Gabriel Jesus wide. Raheem Sterling and Riyad Mahrez were out of form so didn't start, suggesting Guardiola wants his best, most in-form players to face Liverpool — even amid a difficult run of fixtures.
That means Mahrez will surely be ahead of Jesus in the pecking order this time round, and by the same logic Sterling would be ahead of Grealish. The only doubt would be whether Grealish will be fresher than Sterling after Tuesday, and if he was used through the middle to decent effect at Anfield, could it work again at the Etihad?
Grealish raised his game against Manchester United in the recent home win, and looked up for it in his cameo against Atletico, so he could be hopeful of a start in Sunday's big game. If Guardiola can strike the right balance between keeping players fresh and replicating what they did well at Anfield, he might not have too many big selection decisions to make after all.
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