Three important players for Manchester City will be absent when they travel to West Ham on Saturday in the Premier League. In addition to Mateo Kovacic missing the past two weeks due to a back injury, John Stones and Jack Grealish are still out due to injuries sustained during the international break.
Long-term absence Kevin De Bruyne is still not present. After missing two games to recover from back surgery, Pep Guardiola is back. At the London Stadium, he will have to shuffle his squad against a West Ham team that has 10 points from 12 games and is only two points behind leaders City.
Jeremy Doku might make the Blues’ second consecutive start, and newcomer Matheus Nunes might make his league debut in Kovacic’s place.
Bajkowski, Simon
The Champions League is returning, but the difficult match will demand more skill because it is at West Ham. Josko Gvardiol and Matheus Nunes should be started throughout the week, but in the Premier League, it is safer to support players who have been there for more time.
That calls for asking Bernardo Silva to fill in for the injured Mateo Kovacic alongside Rodri in that hybrid midfield position so that Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez may keep contributing to the squad in front of them.
The only exception must be Jeremy Doku, who will start in place of the injured Jack Grealish and may be able to surprise West Ham with his directness against Fulham. Behind him, Kyle Walker can occupy the available space to the right, and Nathan Ake is a reliable option who can go inside as needed.
Bray, Joe
Stones and Grealish were not needed by City, but Kovacic’s absence is the worst blow of the three. It would be the highest-profile game Kalvin Phillips has ever played in for City, and it would be risky to start Matheus Nunes, a recent addition. The obvious replacement in midfield would appear to be Bernardo Silva.
As Julian Alvarez and Phil Foden go inside with Kyle Walker providing the breadth, Phil Foden can resume his right-wing position. With the opportunity to switch with Foden if it isn’t working, as it did against Fulham, Jeremy Doku will likely once again be given the starting left guard position.
The defense chooses itself once more at the back, with the only choices for left-back being Nathan Ake or Josko Gvardiol. Ake rather than Gvardiol would be a better choice in one-on-one matches if West Ham utilizes their wingers.
Dan Murphy
Even though Mateo Kovacic and Kevin De Bruyne are injured, it will be impossible for Phil Foden to return to the middle of the field on Saturday despite how much it would be nice to see him do so.
There aren’t many alternatives available to be deployed on the left wing, though, so Foden will have to step in for Jack Grealish now that he’s out of commission. Accordingly, Jeremy Doku should be placed on the right while Bernardo Silva and Julian Alvarez should go into the midfield.
Manuel Akanji should stay in the center of defense and go into midfield because John Stones is still injured. The remaining members of the defensive backfield should be Jokso Gvardiol, Ruben Dias, and Kyle Walker.
