Manchester City to be without 11 first-team players to face Liverpool

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Manchester City will be without 11 first-team players tomorrow night to face Liverpool in the League Cup, with the likes of Joao Cancelo, Bernardo Silva and Julian Alvarez still yet to return to England.

According to the Manchester Evening News, the reigning Premier League giants will be without a plethora of key players against Liverpool this week as Ederson Moraes, Aymeric Laporte and Ruben Dias are not due back for City to feature in the League Cup.

As well as the five aforementioned players, England quintet Kyle Walker, John Stones, Kalvin Phillips, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish have also yet to return to Manchester, with Liverpool also set to be missing a large number of key players given how recently the World Cup has ended.

Given the size of City’s squad, Pep Guardiola won’t be too troubled to field a quality XI in the League Cup against Liverpool, though, with Erling Haaland and Riyad Mahrez two key players who didn’t qualify for the World Cup, with the likes of Sergio Gomez and Stefan Ortega also not being selected.

Moreover, the League Cup is likely to provide an opportunity for some of City’s exciting young players to be given another shot to impress against a top club, with Cole Palmer and Rico Lewis expected to feature against Liverpool in the headline fixture this week.

Indeed, whilst having the likes of Silva and £60m signing Cancelo missing will be a blow for City, the Manchester side have the depth to cause Liverpool some problems in the League Cup, and many of the club’s fringe players will be eager to showcase what they can do to Guardiola and supporters.

Manchester City can make big statement with Liverpool win in the League Cup

City’s first-team squad might be depleted for this one game, but there’s no denying that the Manchester side have the quality to cause Liverpool some major problems, especially with Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne expected to start against the Reds.

As well as having the bodies, City will want to make a big statement in the League Cup with a win against Liverpool, a team that have already beaten Guardiola’s side this season and one the Premier League title contenders will want to get revenge on this week.