Manchester City will be looking to reduce the gap at the top as we look at the best predicted starting lineup and key details for their match vs Leeds United for EPL 2022.
Manchester City will resume their Premier League challenge on Wednesday evening with a clash against Leeds United. They are currently 8 points behind table-toppers Arsenal with one game in hand, and would want to reduce this gap with a win against the injury-hit Leeds United side.
Manchester City were hot and cold before the world cup break where they won some matches convincingly, but also dropped points where they were not expected to. With a lot of crucial encounters coming in, they can’t afford to drop more points after already losing to Liverpool and Brentford.
Apart from losing key matches, City also played a draw against the Magpies and Aston Villa. With the win against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup last week, they will enter this match with confidence. Last time they won both away and home encounters against Leeds with scorelines of 4-0 and 7-0 respectively.
On the other hand, Leeds United is currently sitting in the 15th position with just 2 points clear then the relegation zone. They parted ways with former Manager Marcelo Bielsa in the later stages of last season. Leeds United just managed to survive the relegation battle last season with a 17th-position finish.
After selling their most prolific player Raphinha to Barcelona, things were never going to be easy for them this season. The road seems to be bumpy for them in their pursuit to remain in Premier League. They are looking to make a couple of signings in the January window to strengthen their defense and add some experience in midfield.
History
Nothing to choose between these two teams, if we look at overall numbers. But we know that the current scenario is not that balanced. Manchester City is arguably the best PL team of the last decade or so. Whereas, Leeds United made their PL comeback a couple of seasons back after missing the top flight for more than a decade. Last season Leeds lost both ties against City with an aggregate scoreline of 11-0.
Games Played: 108 // Leeds United won: 43 // Manchester City won: 47 // Draw: 18
Match Details:
League Type: English Premier League (GW 17)
Match Type: Leeds United vs Manchester City
Stadium: Elland Road
When: December 29, 1.30 am IST (8 pm GMT)
Leeds United Current Form (Recent first): L W W L L
Manchester City Current Form (Recent first): L W W W L
Predicting Starting Lineup for both Teams
EPL 2022-23: Leeds United vs Manchester City Predicted Starting Lineup for Leeds United
While Tyler Adams remains suspended after picking a red card last time out, some other Leeds United players are coming out of injuries in the likes of Meslier, Cooper, Bramford, and Rodrigo. In the absence of Bramford, goal-scoring duties will be on Rodrigo’s shoulders. They are expected to play a 4-2-3-1 formation which is best suited for them in this inexperienced midfield.
Goalkeeper: Illan Meslier
Defence: Pascal Struijk, Liam Cooper, Robin Koch, Rasmus Kristensen
Defensive Midfield: Marc Roca, Forshaw
Attacking Midfield: Crysencio Summerville, Brenden Aaronson, Jack Harrison
Forward: Rodrigo
Formation: 4-2-3-1
EPL 2022-23: Leeds United vs Manchester City Predicted Starting Lineup for Manchester City
Manchester City are without the Argentina World Cup hero Alvarez for this fixture as he was part of the world cup winning celebrations a couple of days back in Argentina. However, with this star-studded City side, that won’t be a major issue.
Meanwhile, City were facing some injury concerns in defense before the world cup. But they have an almost fully fit backline now and a lot of options to choose from. The only injury concern is Ruben Dias, who is nursing a hamstring injury. Aymeric Laporte is expected to fill his shoes.
Kyle Walker and John Stones both started for England in World Cup but are expected to start from the bench and wait for their chances. Meanwhile, after the disappointing world cup, Kevin De Bruyne’ will be looking to bounce back. Elsewhere, Haaland will be eyeing to make the headlines once again, which he missed during the world cup. Foden and Bernando Silva are other sure starters.
Goalkeeper: Ederson
Defence: Nathan Ake, Aymeric Laporte, Manuel Akanji, Joao Cancelo
Midfield: Bernardo Silva, Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne
Attack: Phil Foden, Erling Haaland, Mahrez
Formation: 4-3-3
EPL 2022-23: Leeds United vs Manchester City Fantasy 11
Our fantasy picks are revolving around the Manchester City team. We expect them to score a few goals in this fixture. Leeds United have some injury issues in form of regular starters Bamford and Sinisterra. It will be an uphill task for the current Leeds United team to make a match of it. Leeds are heavily dependent on Rodrigo for goal-scoring options with not so much experience in the midfield.
So, we have kept our focus on the 7 best goal-scoring and clean-sheet options among the Manchester City playing 11. And then filled the remaining 4 positions from the Leeds United team keeping in mind the few chances that will come to their side. With all said, let’s look at our chosen fantasy 11 for this match
Goalkeeper: Illan Meslier
Defenders:, Joao Cancelo, Pascal Struijk, Manuel Akanji, Nathan Ake
Midfielders Summerville, Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Rodrigo
Forwards: Erling Haaland
CVC Choice: Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne
Squad Details:
Leeds United Squad:
Goalkeepers: Illan Meslier, Kristoffer Klaesson, Joel Robles, Harry Christy
Defenders: Luke Ayling, Junior Firpo, Robin Koch, Liam Cooper, Diego Llorente, Stuart Dallas, Pascal Struijk, Rasmus Nissen Kristensen, Leo Fuhr Hjelde, Cody Drameh, Kris Moore, James Debayo
Midfielders: Adam Forshaw, Brenden Aaronson, Marc Roca, Jack Harrison, Tyler Adams, Darko Gyabi, Alfie McCalmont, Amari Miller, Sean McGurk, Mat Klich, Charlie Allen, Joseph Snowdon, Joe Snowdon, Archie Gray
Forwards: Helder Costa, Mateo Joseph, Kun Temenuzhkov, Patrick Bamford, Crysencio Summerville, Sonny Perkins, Rodrigo Moreno Machado, Luis Sinisterra, Wilfried Gnonto, Joe Gelhardt, Sam Greenwood
Manager: Jesse Marsch
Manchester City Squad:
Goalkeepers: Stefan Ortega Moreno, Ederson, Scott Carson
Defenders: Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, John Stones, Nathan Ake, Joao Cancelo, Aymeric Laporte, Sergio Gomez, Manuel Akanji
Midfielders: Kalvin Phillips, Ilkay Gundogan, Jack Grealish, Rodrigo, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden, Cole Palmer
Forwards: Erling Haaland, Julian Alvarez, Riyad Mahrez
Manager: Pep Guardiola
Thanks for reading! What’s your take on the Leads United vs Manchester City game of EPL 2022-23? Please email your thoughts to footbalyticsofficial@gmail.com
ALSO READ: FIFA World Cup 2022: Combined Best Players 11 of the Tournament
Akshay is an author at Footbalytics. His love for football started way back in 1998 when Ronaldo (Not Cristiano) was his first football hero, and the list keeps getting longer ever since.
Though Akshay is a Teacher by profession, he firmly believes that there is no better classroom than the Sports field and no better Teacher than Sports.