Manchester City welcome Crystal Palace to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon and Pep Guardiola is short of options at the back so he’s forced to name his last two fit senior defenders at centre-back.
One of them is Ruben Dias who played 45 minutes in City’s 3-3 draw with Barcelona on Wednesday. The 25-year-old should start at the heart of the defence as Guardiola doesn’t have any cover with Nathan Ake and Aymeric Laporte out of action.
Where will Manchester City finish in the Premier League this season?
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th or lower
Dias has made four appearances in all competitions this season, boasting two wins and one draw. He’s helped City keep two clean sheets. In his three league outings, the Portuguese international has yet to be dribbled past while making three interceptions and eight clearances.
City dropped points in their last top-flight clash and had their defence breached three times, so Dias will be hoping to put that right against Palace. The Eagles have already drawn with Liverpool and comprehensively beat Aston Villa in their last game, so they won’t be slouches.
Dias shouldn’t have any hangover from playing against Barcelona either as he was only on the pitch for 45 minutes in a slow-tempo affair.
In other news, Pep Guardiola admits he ‘thought about’ signing replacement for injured Man City men