Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have confirmed their starting lineups ahead of tonight’s match | OneFootball

Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have confirmed their starting lineups ahead of tonight’s UEFA Champions League league phase fixture at the Etihad Stadium. Pep Guardiola’s side will enter tonight’s matchday five fixture, knowing that if they can pick up a win, they’ll edge closer to securing a top-eight finish. That would be vital for City and allow them to avoid an extra set of fixtures if they finish between 9th and 24th on the table. For Leverkusen, they will be desperate to pick up a result to breathe life into their Champions League campaign. Kasper Hjulmand’s side are 21st in the table and need a result to kick-start their Champions League campaign.

Mateo Kovacic and Rodri are unavailable for tonight’s match for Manchester City. Rodri is continuing to work his way back to full fitness, and his return date is unknown at this stage. Mateo Kovacic will not be available for several months after undergoing surgery on a troublesome heel issues.

Here are the starting lineups for tonight’s match.

Manchester City

Pep Guardiola had made ten changes to the starting lineup that was beaten by Newcastle at St. James Park last Sunday. The Manchester City manager has used tonight’s match as an opportunity to rotate his squad. That is a good move as there are a host of players in the City squad who need minutes and now they have an opportunity to impress. Also, with City facing a hectic schedule over the coming weeks any opportunity to rest City’s key players is a welcome one. It is now on Manchester City’s squad players to do the job against a tricky opponent in Bayer Leverkusen.

Starting lineup: James Trafford, Abdukodir Khusanov, John Stones (C), Nathan Ake, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Rico Lewis, Nico, Tijjani Reijnders, Oscar Bobb, Savinho, Omar Marmoush.

Substitutes: Bettinelli, Donnarumma, Dias, Haaland, Cherki, Doku, Bernardo, Gvardiol, Nunes, O’Reilly, Foden.

Bayer Leverkusen