The summer has been one to remember with England winning the Euros and transfers happening every second, yet this weekend sees the Premier League return, with champions Manchester City facing West Ham in east London.
An opening fixture we’ve seen in recent years, City travel to the English capital off the back of a 3-1 Community Shield loss to Liverpool, where superstar signing Erling Haaland stole headlines for all the wrong reasons.
The 22-year-old City striker missed a golden chance to score mere metres from goal only to see how shot blaze high over the bar, and for Haaland, the forward will want to get back amongst the goals this weekend against West Ham.
With some major changes this summer, things will be different for City this season, yet who could we see in the first XI of the Premier League season against West Ham, and who misses out against the Irons?
Nathan Ake and Ruben Dias start with Aymeric Laporte out through injury
With Oleksandr Zinchenko leaving for Arsenal, Joao Cancelo stands as the club’s only player somewhat natural at playing left-back, with City’s new no. 7 set to retain his spot ahead of the new season with Kyle Walker out on the right.
With Aymeric Laporte out until September according to the latest report, Nathan Ake is set to start at centre-back for the first few games of the season, with Ruben Dias partnering the Netherlands international in the spine of the defence.
Although City signed a new shot-stopper this summer in Stefan Ortega, Ederson Moraes is of course the clear starting keeper for Pep Guardiola’s side, with the Brazilian once again ready to play a huge role in the club’s fortunes for the upcoming season.
Potential captain Kevin De Bruyne lines up with Bernardo Silva and Rodri
Midfield has seen some big changes this summer with former captain Fernandinho finally calling time on his career at City with Leeds United star Kalvin Phillips coming in to replace the Brazilian icon, yet despite this huge transfer, the England midfielder does not make our XI.
Indeed, Rodri was arguably the best defensive midfielder in the league last season, and for this, the Spaniard retains his spot in City’s XI, with Kevin De Bruyne, who Guardiola has recently teased could become the club’s new captain, starting once again in the centre of the park.
For the final spot, Bernardo Silva takes the position despite strong rumours in recent weeks that FC Barcelona and now PSG are reportedly interested in signing the midfielder, with the Portuguese international valued at £80m, yet despite these links, there’s no way Guardiola leaves out the playmaker for this weekend against West Ham.
Erling Haaland leads the line despite Liverpool horrorshow
To say social media enjoyed Haaland’s horrorshow performance against Liverpool would be something of an understatement, but if there’s one thing we’ve learnt about the Norwegian phenom in his short career, is that he always bounces back stronger.
With a good opponent coming up this weekend in West Ham, Haaland has the chance to redeem himself with a strong performance against the Hammers, with Riyad Mahrez and Phil Foden our picks to start alongside the striker.
Whilst Jack Grealish started in the Community Shield, the England international seemed somewhat off the pace, and Foden could be an ideal replacement option for the former Aston Villa star, with Julian Alvarez also a good shout to also feature against West Ham this Sunday.
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