Pep Guardiola’s men will hope to get back to winning ways in the Champions League when they go head to head against Belgian First Division Champions Club Brugge at the Jan Breydel Stadium.
With only a one-point difference to the table leader after two games and having faced Paris Saint-Germain and RB Leipzig already, Manchester City will be hoping to dig their heels firmly into a stronger position in the Group A table with a win over the Belgian side.
Club Brugge have shattered everyone’s expectations so far this season with their brilliant outings against the other two group stage opponents. Although this fixture seems like a one-sided affair on paper, the Belgians will definitely offer trouble on Tuesday evening.
The Premier League champions have never faced a Belgian side in the Champions League, and this will be the first such encounter between these two sides.
Ahead of Tuesday’s clash in Belgium, here is all the team news for both sides…
Manchester City Team News
Pep Guardiola will receive a major boost against Brugge with Brazilian stars Ederson and Gabriel Jesus reuniting with the rest of the squad in Belgium.
Having played for their national side against Uruguay less than 48 hours before the Blues took on Burnley, the duo was unavailable for the game on Saturday. Questions remain over their fitness for this fixture, but Ederson is likely to be back in goal without concerns.
Manchester City will be without John Stones for this game in Belgium. The Englishman is fit and injury-free but has not travelled along with the squad to Belgium due to personal reasons.
Kevin De Bruyne - who is returning to Belgium for a competitive game for the first time since leaving Genk in 2012 – provided an update on his recent injury struggles in the pre-match press conference on Monday. The Belgian said he feels ‘much much better’ after taking time off following the season opener against Tottenham but ‘there are still things that can improve’.
Oleksandr Zinchenko and Ilkay Gundogan – who recovered from their respective injuries over the international break – did not feature against Burnley at the weekend but are in contention for a start against Brugge.
Meanwhile, Spain international Ferran Torres who picked up a foot injury on international duty, will be out for ‘two to three’ months as confirmed by Pep Guardiola last Friday.
Club Brugge Team News
Meanwhile, Philippe Clement will be with a fully fit squad when his side take on Pep Guardiola’s monstrous team on their own soil.
Former Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet will be a familiar face when he starts in goal for Brugge on Tuesday. The centre back pairing of Jack Hendry and Stanley N’Soki has impressed massively and are most likely to start with the full-back duo of Clinton Mata and Eduard Sobol alongside them.
Ruud Vormer, Mats Rits and Hans Vanaken are expected to make up Philippe Clement’s midfield as usual. While Kamal Sowah and Noa Lang are most likely to start on the wings with Charles De Ketelaere up top.
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