Guardiola should give these 3 Manchester City players a chance against Watford

13th August 2016 - Premier League - Manchester City v Sunderland - Man City manager Pep Guardiola - Photo: Simon Stacpoole / Offside.

Manchester City host Watford on Wednesday evening looking to get back to winning ways in the Premier League after a disappointing few weeks.

Pep Guardiola’s side suffered their first home league defeat of the season to Chelsea ten days ago, and then they were comfortably beaten by champions Leicester 4-2 on Saturday.

Those two losses have called into question Guardiola’s style of play, but also City’s defensive capabilities, having conceded seven goals in two games, some of which were certainly avoidable.

It now means that City go into tomorrow’s game with Watford seven points adrift of league leaders Chelsea, and in serious need of ending a frustrating run of no league win in four at the Etihad Stadium.

However, they’ll be in for a tough evening as Walter Mazzarri’s side go into the game off the back of an excellent 3-2 victory over Everton on Saturday, their sixth win of the season.

That result moved them up to seventh in the Premier League table, and they’ll likely cause City several problems going forward on Wednesday night.

With an important clash against Arsenal coming up on Sunday, Guardiola may shuffle his pack against the Hornets, so here are THREE players who deserve a chance on Wednesday…

Willy Caballero

Photo: Marc Atkins / Offside.

Claudio Bravo continues to be unconvincing in the City goal, and it remains to be seen for how much longer he retains his position.

The former Barcelona goalkeeper should have done better with Andy King’s strike on Saturday, and didn’t cover himself in glory when Willian gave Chelsea the lead at the Etihad ten days ago.

They aren’t the only errors he has made though, so surely Willy Caballero, who has deputised in the Champions League since Bravo’s calamitous red card at the Nou Camp, is knocking the door to replace him.

It’s unlikely to happen, but Caballero has been solid in between the sticks for City this season, and deserves a chance in the Premier League on Wednesday.

Tosin Adarabioyo

Photo: Simon Stacpoole / Offside.

Guardiola seems to have tried almost everything at the back so far this season, but 19-year-old Tosin Adarabioyo is yet to feature in a Premier League game thus far.

And there’s no reason why he doesn’t deserve a chance against Watford.

City were hopeless defensively against Leicester and, not for the first time this season, they were undone by individual errors at the back.

Adarabioyo started against Celtic and did well, and including him in the team would be a clear statement of intent to the other centre-backs that their place is not guaranteed.

Raheem Sterling

Photo: Simon Stacpoole / Offside.

Raheem Sterling’s early season form was outstanding, and he looked like the player City thought they bought for £49 million last year.

However, the England international has struggled a bit in recent weeks, and was left out of the starting eleven against Leicester at the weekend.

Nonetheless, he came on for the ineffective Jesus Navas and provided City with more of a threat than the Spanish international, and may well have done enough to regain a starting berth.

When Sterling’s confident and at his best, he’s seriously difficult to defend against, and being recalled to the starting eleven could give him that confidence against Watford on Wednesday.

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