John Stones, Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez all come into the starting eleven with Ruben Dias, Gabriel Jesus and Kevin De Bruyne reverting to the bench.
For City tonight offers a chance to bounce back to winning ways after last weekend’s frustrating 2-0 loss to Crystal Palace as we seek to take another important step towards sealing a place in the last 16 of the Champions League.
TEAMS
City: Ederson, Walker, Cancelo, Stones, Laporte, Rodrigo, Gundogan (c), Bernardo, Grealish, Foden, Mahrez
Subs: Steffen, Carson, Dias, Aké, Sterling, Jesus, Zinchenko, De Bruyne, Fernandinho, Palmer
Brugge: Mignolet, Mata, Hendry, Mechele, Nsoki, Sobol, Rits, Vormer, Vanaken, Lang, De Ketelaere
Subs: Lammens, Shinton, Ricca, Maoussa, Van Der Brempt, Mbamba, Dost, Wesley, Sowah, Izquierdo
Formation – 4-3-3
Once again City look set to at least start with the formation that has brought us so much joy over the past few seasons.
Goalkeeper Ederson will be shielded by a back four of Kyle Walker, Aymeric Laporte, John Stones and Joao Cancelo.
Rodrigo will be the holding midfielder with skipper Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva also in the engine room.
The attacking trio will be made up of Jack Grealish, Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez with Foden set to be the central focal point though such is City’s tactical flexibility those positions could switch!
Halfway house
Tonight’s resumption of European action marks the second half of combat in Group A – and everything is still to play for.
Paris Saint-Germain currently lead the way with seven points from the first three games with City close behind on six points.
Tonight’s opponents are in third with a four-point haul while RB Leipzig prop up the table and are yet to register a point.
Ahead of our first meeting with Brugge in Belgium, City boss Pep Guardiola described Matchdays Three and Four as being pivotal in helping determine final standings.
And another positive result following our superb 5-1 win in Brugge a fortnight ago would put City in an ideal position ahead of our home clash with PSG later this month.
Stats and facts
Head-to-head
• Manchester City’s 5-1 victory over Club Brugge in October was their only previous meeting in European competition.
City
• City have won six of their seven games against Belgian opponents in European competition (L1), including a 5-1 victory in their only previous meeting with Club Brugge.
• City have scored 21 goals across their previous seven games against Belgian opponents, at an average of three per game. Their 5-1 win against Club Brugge last time out was the joint-most goals a team has scored away to the Belgian side in the UEFA Champions League, along with Paris Saint-Germain’s 5-0 win there in October 2019.
• City have won 80% of their home games in the UEFA Champions League since Pep Guardiola took charge of the club (20/25 – D2 L3). Among those with 20+ home games managed, this is the highest win percentage by a coach with a single club in the competition.
• City’s Jack Grealish has created more chances following carries (moving 5+ metres with the ball) than any other player in the UEFA Champions League this season. Overall, Real Madrid’s Vinícius Júnior (10) is the only player who has been directly involved in more shots than Grealish (9 – three shots, six chances created) following a ball carry.
• Phil Foden, who set up City’s opener last time out, already has six assists to his name in the UEFA Champions League. The only player with more assists before turning 22 for England clubs in the UEFA Champions League is Cesc Fàbregas (10 for Arsenal between 2006 and 2009).
• Raheem Sterling has been directly involved in 24 goals in 27 home games for Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League, scoring 15 goals and making nine assists. Only Sergio Agüero (27) has more combined goals and assists for the club in home games in the competition.
Club Brugge
• Club Brugge are looking for their first victory against English opponents in European competition since February 1995 (1-0 v Chelsea in the Cup Winners’ Cup), having failed to win any of their last 13 attempts (D3 L10).
• Club Brugge have never won away from home against an English side in European competition, while this will be their 14th attempt at doing so. They’ve lost 11 of their previous 13 such games, drawing twice.
• Since losing five consecutive away games in the UEFA Champions League between November 2005 and October 2018, Club Brugge have only lost two of their nine such games since (W3 D4). The Belgian side will be looking to record consecutive away wins for the very first time in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League.
• No team has completed a sequence of 10+ passes on fewer occasions than Club Brugge (6) in the UEFA Champions League this season. Meanwhile, since the start of last season, Manchester City have made more than any other team in the competition (361).
