Manchester City and Napoli will go head-to-head in the Champions League at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday night as both teams look to open their European campaign with a victory.
Pep Guardiola's side come into the game on the back of a dominant Manchester derby victory over local rivals United, as Erling Haaland and Phil Foden netted in a 3-0 win, while Antonio Conte's Serie A champions come into the game on the back of a 3-1 win over Fiorentina to extend their 100% start to the season.
Both sides have some injury concerns ahead of the game, and this is how GIVEMESPORT expect the teams to line up.
Man City Team News
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The Cityzens are dealing with a number of injury issues within their squad at the moment, and will once again be without Rayan Cherki, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Omar Marmoush for this game.
John Stones is also dealing with muscle fatigue and is a doubt for the clash, while Mateo Kovacic is unlikely to return from a calf problem. Kalvin Phillips is still recovering from an achilles issue picked up last season, while third-choice goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli is unavailable.
Man City Injuries and Suspensions
Player
Rayan Cherki
Omar Marmoush
Mateo Kovacic
Rayan Ait-Nouri
John Stones
Marcus Bettinelli
Kalvin Phillips
Guardiola Drops Team News Update
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Guardiola shared an update on his squad ahead of the game.
"Kova is coming back soon, so yeah the team, the squad is really good. It's just now we have a problem that we only have 16 players.
"Rayan Ait-Nouri, Rayan Cherki, John [Stones] and when everybody is coming back we can rotate and people on the bench can make a good impact during the game. But the fatigue is coming, will come soon, and so we need to make everybody involved."
Man City Predicted XI
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Man City Predicted XI: Donnarumma; Lewis, Dias, Ake, Gvardiol; Rodri, Reijnders; Savinho, Foden, Doku; Haaland.
Man City Predicted Substitutes: Ortega-Moreno (GK), Trafford (GK), Nunes (DEF), Khusanov (DEF), O'Reilly (DEF), Gonzalez (MID), B. Silva (MID), Bobb (FWD).
City are unlikely to make too many changes from the derby after a top performance and that should see goalscorer Foden keep his place in the side.
With more pace out wide in Savinho and Doku too, £450,000-a-week duo Bernardo Silva and Nico Gonzalez are likely to be on the bench as a result.
Napoli Team News
Napoli striker Romelo Lukaku
Conte's side had a busy summer window after winning the league championship, but they will be without their top scorer from the campaign Romelu Lukaku for a number of months due to a thigh problem.
Kevin De Bruyne and Rasmus Hojlund are likely to start the game though, but Amir Rrahmini and Alex Meret could miss out through injuries.
Napoli Injuries and Suspensions
Player
Romelu Lukaku
Nikita Contini
Amir Rrahmini
Alex Meret
Conte Drops Team News Update
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Conte shared an update on his squad ahead of the game.
"McTominay? I already knew him, I faced him twice in England. I know the great potential of a player like McTominay, and I always wondered why he wasn’t dominating in England given his qualities.
"When the chance came to bring him to Napoli, honestly my first reaction was: ‘I can’t believe it! Can this really happen?’ And it did.
"He’s enjoying himself here. For someone like him, who grew up at United, maybe after so many years you need to change and try another experience. That happened with us, and we’re super happy to have him. He’s a fantastic player and a great person.
"How is Meret? After the issue in Florence, where there was a risk of causing real damage, similar to what happened with Neres before the break, sometimes it’s better not to risk it, otherwise you could lose the player for a month or a month and a half. Meret has recovered, he trained with us today, and he’s available."
Napoli Predicted XI
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Napoli Predicted XI: Milinkovic-Savic; Di Lorenzo, Beukema, Buongiorno, Spinazzola; Anguissa, Lobota, McTominay; De Bruyne, Hojlund, Politano.
Napoli Predicted Substitutes: Meret (GK), Marianucchi (DEF), Mazzocchi (DEF), Gutierrez (DEF), Jesus (DEF), Oliveira (DEF), Gilmour (MID), Elmas (MID), Lang (FWD), Neres (FWD), Lucca (FWD), Vergara (FWD).
With Napoli having key players in-form and firing, Conte is sure to go with former Manchester trio De Bruyne, Hojlund and Scott McTominay as his front three in this game.
That should see £185,000-a-week duo Eljif Elmas and David Neres on the substitutes bench as a result to provide more depth and firepower if it's necessary.