Former defenders Joleon Lescott and Rio Ferdinand believe Phil Foden has to start when Manchester City host Liverpool on Sunday in the Premier League.
City have had their gap cut down to just one point at the top of the table, with the Reds winning 10 games in succession to put themselves back in the hunt for the top-flight title.
In addition to the Premier League, both City and Liverpool are chasing Champions League and FA Cup glory too, with the Reds having already won the Carabao Cup.
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As Liverpool were coasting to a 3-1 win over Benfica in Lisbon, City faced a sterner test on home soil against Atletico Madrid. Eventually they won 1-0 thanks to a Kevin de Bruyne goal, which was expertly set up by Foden within a couple of minutes of his introduction from the bench.
Speaking after the game, Lescott was asked whether Foden's impact means he has to feature from the off at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
"Oh yeah, definitely," said the ex-Everton centre-back on BT Sport. "Part of the decision not starting tonight was that. But when he contributes as he done tonight, pfft.. You’d be surprised if he doesn’t play."
Ferdinand was also on the panel and suggested that City boss Pep Guardiola will have long known the team he was going to play against Liverpool.
" Pep probably knows already, he’s three games ahead but there comes a moment where a player does something in the game and it makes you go ‘ooh, I might have to change it’ and if he wasn’t going to play Phil Foden at the weekend, he may change that given the performance," he said.
Foden was City's standout performer when the two sides met at Anfield earlier in the season, excelling on the left flank and scoring his team's first equaliser in a 2-2 draw. That day, Liverpool were without Trent Alexander-Arnold and forced to play James Milner at right-back. However, the former appears to have recovered well from a recent injury layoff and should start for the Reds on Sunday in Manchester.
