Rico Lewis to start over Kyle Walker, Phil Foden returns to bench – Predicted XI: Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester City (Premier League)

Manchester City return to Premier League action on Sunday afternoon, after reaching the Emirates FA Cup fifth round last week courtesy of a 1-0 win over Arsenal.

While some are anticipating that the victory could be a significant psychological advantage in favour of Pep Guardiola’s side, only time will tell as to whether City can turn such a mental boost into three points in the top-flight.

Before a high-profile double-header against Mikel Arteta’s side across the coming weeks, Manchester City travel to face Tottenham for the second time this season, following on from their dramatic 4-2 comeback victory over Antonio Conte’s players.

Despite going in at half-time 0-2 down, a Julian Alvarez strike was quickly followed up by an Erling Haaland equaliser, before Riyad Mahrez struck two to confirm the three points – keeping up with the Gunners at the top of the table.

With Arsenal holding a five-point advantage over Manchester City at present, and having played one game less than the reigning champions, nothing other than a win on Sunday will be acceptable for Pep Guardiola and his players – should they wish to mount a serious pursuit of their challengers over the remaining months of the season.

Ahead of the trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, here is how we predict Manchester City will line-up in their latest crunch Premier League encounter.

Predicted XI

Ederson starts in goal.

While Kyle Walker could make another return to face his former club from the starting line-up, we’re backing Rico Lewis to continue his role as Manchester City’s right-back whilst operating largely in defensive midfield – as he did in the reverse fixture.

Things are made slightly easier when it comes to the central defenders this week, with John Stones being ruled out for a number of the upcoming matches through injury. With that being said, we believe Manuel Akanji will retain his place in the starting line-up, pairing up with Aymeric Laporte.

Joao Cancelo’s exit for Bayern Munich last month leaves Manchester City significantly more empty in the left-back role, but also makes for much easier predicted line-ups, as Nathan Ake is now Pep Guardiola’s first-choice in the position for the remainder of the season at least.

Rodri will almost certainly start in defensive midfield.

Kevin De Bruyne will be hoping to significantly improve his performances for Manchester City, with the Belgian having been largely underwhelming since the conclusion of the World Cup, despite boosting his assist figures in recent weeks.

It is then a straight shoot-out between Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan for the second advanced midfield spot, and we believe it will be the latter who comes out on top, as Pep Guardiola looks for more control in the centre of the park – especially at such an intense environment in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Riyad Mahrez is another of the first names on the team sheet at the moment, and the Algerian is arguably indispensable for a match of this magnitude, and following on from his performance in the reverse fixture, he should start once again on Sunday afternoon.

Erling Haaland will start at striker. 31 goals and three assists in 27 appearances across all competitions is all you need to know about this one.

Phil Foden has made a full recovery from a foot problem sustained in the Manchester derby over a fortnight ago, but following on from Pep Guardiola’s pre-match comments, Jack Grealish is highly likely to start this one.

Pep Guardiola explained, “He (Jack Grealish) is a regular starter because he’s playing really good. I rotate the team a lot, but at the same time I see how they perform every single game and you have to try to continue, and Jack is playing really good.”

Starting XI: Ederson; Lewis, Akanji, Laporte, Ake; Rodri, De Bruyne, Gundogan; Mahrez, Haaland, Grealish.

Substitutes: Ortega, Walker, Dias, Gomez, Phillips, Bernardo, Palmer, Foden, Alvarez.