Manchester City Predicted XI vs Watford: Guardiola to give Foden another Premier League start

After their surprise 2-0 defeat against Arsenal in Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final, Manchester City now travel to relegation-threatened Watford for their penultimate Premier League match of the season.

Despite having already secured second place, Pep Guardiola will want his side to bounce back from their Wembley loss at Vicarage Road.

The Spanish boss has won all of his eight matches in charge against the Hornets, which included a 6-0 win in last year’s FA Cup final and an 8-0 victory at Etihad in their reverse fixture back in September.

With a Champions League last-16 second-leg against Real Madrid to come in August, Guardiola is expected to shuffle his talented pack once again in order to get through what has been a relentless fixture list.

So which players will be tasked with the challenge of overcoming managerless Watford (following Nigel Pearson’s shock dismissal) on Tuesday?

Here we predict Guardiola’s XI…

Goalkeeper:

Ederson: The first choice Brazilian played instead of injured FA Cup ‘keeper Claudio Bravo on Saturday and will continue to keep his place between the sticks with only Scott Carson to deputise.

Defenders:

City’s defence has been their downfall this season and that was no different on Saturday. Eric Garcia didn’t have the best of times at Wembley, while Benjamin Mendy still seems to have a mistake in him. This could see John Stones, who has started just 12 Premier League matches this term, and Aleks Zinchenko step in alongside Kyle Walker at right-back and centre-back, Ayermic Laporte.

Midfielders:

The absence of Rodri from the starting XI was a surprise in the loss to Arsenal and, after coming on as a substitute, the Spaniard will expect a start at Watford. Despite starting at Wembley, Pep could stick with Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva in midfield, especially with the latter departing the Etihad at the end of the season.

Forwards:

With star man Sergio Aguero sidelined, Gabriel Jesus has had all the centre-forward responsibility placed on his shoulders. With Real Madrid not far away, Pep cannot risk an injury to the Brazilian striker at Watford so could play Bernardo in that position. The Portugal international could then be supported by Phil Foden – who is in-line for his eighth Premier League start of the season – and the in-form Raheem Sterling.

Predicted XI: Ederson; Walker, Stones, Laporte, Zinchenko; De Bruyne, Rodri, Silva; Sterling, Bernardo, Foden.