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Marseille-Manchester City Preview: More midweek football

By J.C. Gonzalez

Manchester City's English midfielder Phil Foden shoots but fails to score during the English Premier League football match between West Ham United and Manchester City at The London Stadium, in east London on October 24, 2020. (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / POOL / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Manchester City's English midfielder Phil Foden shoots but fails to score during the English Premier League football match between West Ham United and Manchester City at The London Stadium, in east London on October 24, 2020. (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / POOL / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Manchester City’s injury struggles and fixture congestion continue with a Champions League trip to Marseille.

Manchester City will play a minimum of two games every week between now and the New Year. That will be an incredibly intense test for a team struggling with both injuries and form, but City will need to persevere and build on their Champions League-opening win over Porto with a result against Marseille.

Along with Porto, the French outfit have a real shot at qualification and could give City trouble, given the team’s history of struggles against fellow Ligue 1 side Lyon. Marseille were surprisingly beaten on the first matchday by Olympiacos in Greece, but given how even all three teams are below City, they should still be firmly in contention to qualify. They currently sit 4th in the French league, three points adrift of leaders Paris Saint-Germain, after eight matches played.

City will be without a true striker once again after Sergio Agüero suffered another injury and is possibly set for another month on the sidelines. With Gabriel Jesus close to returning, this shouldn’t be a problem for long, but it will be a major concern in this particular match. Aymeric Laporte and Kevin De Bruyne will be massive players to return for City, but they will also be without Fernandinho, Benjamin Mendy, and Nathan Aké.

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City should expect all three points in this match, but it could be a tough task given the current injury situation and the fact that this is another road match on the back of a weekend trip in East London. After a poor start to the season for City, perhaps they can find their footing in Europe and translate it back to the Premier League. Pep Guardiola pulled a very rare sight in using the same lineup in consecutive matches for the first time since 2017 in City’s games against Porto and West Ham, which is especially odd given the context of the frequency of games, but at least a few changes are absolutely required here.

Predicted XI: Ederson (GK), Kyle Walker (RB), Rúben Dias (CB), Aymeric Laporte (CB), Oleksandr Zinchenko (LB), Rodri (CDM), İlkay Gündoğan (CDM), Kevin De Bruyne (CAM), Riyad Mahrez (RW), Raheem Sterling (ST), Phil Foden (LW)