Predicted Starting Line-Up: Leyton Orient vs Manchester City (FA Cup fourth round) | OneFootball

Manchester City are back in FA Cup action this weekend as they travel to face off with League One outfit Leyton Orient in the competition’s fourth round.

Pep Guardiola’s side come into the weekend’s cup clash off the back of a thumping 5-1 defeat away to Premier League rivals Arsenal last time out, and will remain licking their wounds as they travel to London on Saturday afternoon.

City remain in a tough battle to make a top-four finish during the second-half of the season and will certainly need to pick up their performances and cross-competition form in order for that to happen.

While the club may have received a boost to the squad in the January transfer market – signing Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis, and Nico Gonzalez – they remain without star midfielder Rodri heading into their toughest stretch of fixtures this season.

However, Ruben Dias, Jeremy Doku, Ederson, and Nathan Ake are all understood to have returned to Manchester City first-team training this week after respective injury issues, with manager Pep Guardiola suggesting that some could feature at the Gaughan Group Stadium.

With the very public fitness issues in mind, and a UEFA Champions League showdown with Real Madrid just around the corner, let’s take a look at how Pep Guardiola may set his side up on Saturday afternoon at Leyton Orient!

Predicted XI

Despite Ederson’s return to training this week following discomfort in his thigh that forced a withdrawal from the club’s matchday squad against Arsenal last weekend, Stefan Ortega Moreno should feature between the sticks.

The Manchester City back-four will be largely informed by the Real Madrid showdown just 72 hours after the Leyton Orient outing, and that means Matheus Nunes will likely remain at right-back.

The centre-back pairing is where we should see some more significant rotation, as we believe Vitor Reis and Abdukodir Khusanov will get the nod from Pep Guardiola, in what will be a debut for Manchester City for the former.

Meanwhile, Rico Lewis has been left out of many Manchester City line-ups as of late, but the young defender should return to the first-team with another stint at left-back as he remains very much in the long-term plans of Guardiola.

Once again, midfield could get interesting with impending continental action on Pep Guardiola’s mind as Real Madrid travel to the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night for a last-16 play-off first-leg against the Premier League champions.

As such, transfer deadline day signing Nico Gonzalez could play from the start and earn his Manchester City debut, and he will be joined by Ilkay Gundogan – who will show him the ropes in the heart of Guardiola’s midfield.

Ahead of a defensive-minded double-pivot, Kevin De Bruyne could tag back in after seemingly losing his spot in City’s best eleven against Chelsea and Arsenal, though his minutes should be limited to 60 as he could still play a key role against Real Madrid.

Out on the right-wing, Manchester City fans could be overjoyed to see tricky midfielder James McAtee come back into the fold after a recent uptick in minutes off the bench and off the back of a hat-trick in the FA Cup third round.

Erling Haaland was due a rest, and thanks to the January addition of Omar Marmoush from Eintracht Frankfurt, he will get that rest. We should see our first taste of the Egyptian star leading the attacking line this weekend.

Finally, Jack Grealish has been in the Pep Guardiola dog-house as of late, but the Manchester City boss does tend to give players in that position a chance to prove themselves in rotated line-ups. Look for the former Aston Villa man to tag back in.

Predicted XI: Ortega Moreno; Nunes, Reis, Khusanov, Lewis; Gonzalez, Gundogan, De Bruyne; McAtee, Marmoush, Grealish.

Substitutes: Ederson, Dias, Akanji, Stones, Gvardiol, O’Reilly, Kovacic, Foden, Savinho.