Man City predicted line-up vs. Luton: Four changes as key playmaker inches towards return

The latest team news and injury updates as Manchester City prepare to face Luton Town in the Premier League.

It’s been some time since Manchester City last went five league games without a win – but that will happen unless Pep Guardiola’s side can take three points home from Kenilworth Road this Sunday, when his side take on Luton Town.

The hosts have dropped into the relegation zone following their heartbreaking last-minute loss to Arsenal in midweek but proved in that game that they’re no pushovers, and City will have to be better than they were in the 1-0 defeat at Villa Park on Wednesday, when they were comprehensively outclassed by Unai Emery’s side.

The good news for Guardiola is that he doesn’t have too many injury issues to deal with as he looks to get City back on track for a title challenge – and we may not be too far from seeing key playmaker Kevin de Bruyne back in action. We’ve brought all the latest updates together below and ventured a predicted line-up for Sunday’s showdown between rags and riches.

Goalkeeper & Defence

John Stones came through the game against Aston Villa unscathed after missing the prior three matches, which means that unless there are any unexpected updates in Guardiola’s pre-match press conference he will have a full slate of defensive players to select from.

Having been benched for the Villa game we expect Nathan Aké to come back into the line-up as Guardiola looks to rotate his players at the beginning of a busy festive period, which could see Croatian defender Joško Gvardiol drop out once again. Luton defender Issa Kaboré, incidentally, will not play as he is on loan from City, and players cannot play against their parent clubs in the Premier League.

Midfield

The biggest news to come out of the Etihad this week is that De Bruyne, who has been out with a hamstring injury since the going off in the first half of the first game of the season, was named in City’s Club World Cup squad. City play their semi-final on 19 December before either the final or third-place playoff three days later, and that suggests that the Belgian is very close to returning to first-team action.

Unfortunately, the game against Luton is expected to come too soon, with the most optimistic estimates expecting him to return for the game against Crystal Palace next weekend. Elsewhere, Rodri is available once more after serving a one-game suspension for collecting five yellow cards in the league.

Forwards
City only have one question mark over their front three, Belgian wonderkid Jérémy Doku – who picked up a knock during the 3-3 draw to Tottenham Hotspur last weekend and ended up missing the game against Villa. His injury is described as “not serious,” but City are clearly keen to take care with a young player who had plenty of injury issues during his time in France.

Should they decide to take a cautious approach in may mean a first league start since October for England international Jack Grealish, who was also unavailable for the match at Villa Park through suspension but will return this weekend.

Full predicted line-up vs. Luton Town
Ederson; Aké, Stones, Días, Walker; Rodri, Kovačić, Álvarez; Grealish, Haaland, Bernardo.