With more of his senior players returning to training, Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola will perhaps play close to his strongest XI against Chelsea.
It will be interesting to see whether either one of Rico Lewis, Oscar Bobb, James McAtee or Nico O’Reilly keep their places in the side after contributing to City’s latest win against Manchester United in the FA Community Shield.
The chances of Lewis and Bobb starting against Chelsea seem likelier than McAtee and O’Reilly due to their superior experience as first-team players for the Premier League winners.
Especially the Norwegian, with Savinho starting on the bench and Guardiola claiming Grealish’s injury could possibly rule him out of the contest — opening for Jeremy Doku to start at left-wing once again.
With Kyle Walker returning to training on Monday, as per Manchester Evening News, it will be interesting to see whether he starts at right-back over Lewis on Sunday.
After the 19-year-old’s impressive displays throughout pre-season and against Erik ten Hag’s side, he deserves to retain his place at Stamford Bridge.
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Why Rico Lewis should keep Man City starting spot against Chelsea
With Enzo Maresca trialling a variety of different setups in pre-season, the question will be which player he starts on the left-wing to go toe-to-toe with Lewis.
However, even so, the £25,000-a-week man’s impressive showing a wideman of Marcus Rashford’s ilk should be an indicator that despite his slight stature and inexperience at the top level, he is a reliable defender.
Furthermore, it will be an important learning experience for Lewis to have the task of keeping dangerous wingers such as Raheem Sterling, Pedro Neto and Mykhaylo Mudryk at bay.
With Walker having missed the entirety of the Sky Blues’ pre-season, it would be best to let him return to full fitness before handing him a start; especially when the Bury-born defender is in form.
Rodri’s return to training is expected on Wednesday — a factor that could lead to Manchester City potentially finding it difficult to control proceedings in the middle of the park against Chelsea.
However, Lewis’ inclusion could help City play the game at their own pace and dismantle Maresca’s man-to-man press due to his calmness in possession, how press-resistant he is as well as his dangerous passes in between the lines to find his side’s attackers.
The Englishman’s presence has helped the Sky Blues exact control against top teams like Arsenal, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool in the past.
As a result, if Rodri is not named in the starting lineup by Pep Guardiola, Lewis could ease the burden on City’s makeshift holding midfielder to dictate the tempo of the game singlehandedly.
After starting just eight Premier League games last season and a summer where he had the chance to put his feet up due to missing out on England’s squad for Euro 2024, the highly-rated right-back will also be one of the fittest players at Manchester City’s disposal.
Several reasons suggest why Lewis should be handed the chance to start against Chelsea and undergo the test of facing one of the biggest and best teams in the Premier League.
