Man City name attacking side at Chelsea

Published on: 30 September 2017

Manchester City have named an attack-minded lineup for the trip to Premier League champions Chelsea, with Raheem Sterling selected as a replacement for the injured Sergio Aguero.

City are seeking to ensure they remain top of the table by the close of Saturday's play and boss Pep Guardiola has opted for an attacking selection.

Here is today's team... #CHEMCI pic.twitter.com/UN68HS44NE

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) September 30, 2017

With Aguero missing after his car crash on Thursday, Sterling is recalled to the starting lineup with Gabriel Jesus switching to the centre of a front three.

Guardiola's biggest decision was over who to start at left-back and Delph has got the nod as a replacement for knee ligament victim Benjamin Mendy.

Delph impressed in the role against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League in midweek and after a morale-boosting recall to the England setup, he starts at left-back at Stamford Bridge.

City appear to be seeking to attack the champions with a midfield of Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva and Fernandinho.

Chelsea boss Antonio Conte said in his prematch press conference that he would have to assess the fitness of his players after their Champions League exertions, but there are just two changes to the Chelsea XI that started against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday.

Eden Hazard makes his first Premier League start of the season after producing a man-of-the-match performance at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium, while Cesc Fabregas keeps his place ahead of Pedro and Willian.

Here we go... The team is in!

What do you make of our @HaysWorldwide line-up? #cfcvcity pic.twitter.com/EFC0Lv1kBc

— Manchester City (@ManCity) September 30, 2017

The big surprise from Conte is the absence of Victor Moses, who drops to the substitutes' bench to make way for Antonio Rudiger.

The Germany international is likely to slot into the right of Chelsea's three man defence, with Cesar Azpilicueta shifting to right wing-back.

As confirmed by Conte on Friday, academy graduate Andreas Christensen is again chosen to step in for David Luiz, who is unavailable as he serves the last match of a three-game ban.

ESPN FC's Chelsea correspondent, Liam Twomey, and Manchester City correspondent, Jonathan Smith, contributed to this report.

Source: espn.co.uk

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