Manchester City v Leeds United live: Team news and line-ups ahead of Premier League game today

Pep Guardiola picks the team we largely expected, except perhaps for Tijjani Reijnders – the Dutchman had lost his place in the Premier League starting XI in recent weeks but wins it back here, as Rayan Cherki takes his place on the bench.

Perri; Bogle, Rodon, Strujik, Justin; Ampadu, Gruev, Tanaka; James, Nmecha, Gnonto.

Subs: Meslier, Byram, Gudmundsson, Bijol, Harrison, Aaronson, Okafor, Piroe, Calvert-Lewin.

Donnarumma; Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly; Nico, Bernardo (c), Reijnders; Foden, Doku, Haaland.

Subs: Trafford, Stones, Ake, Marmoush, Cherki, Ait-Nouri, Savinho, Khusanov, Lewis.

Team news is about to land…

Farke added: “I see what the lads are doing, how they train, how tight they are together and when I judge the objective data, it gives me lots of confidence that we have enough to succeed. I’m fully confident and fully convinced.”

“We know for which club we’re working and there’s always outside noise. There was in the past even after our best season in our history (points-wise) last season.

“We fully expected that this would also happen this season. When we started, the goal was to finish 17th or above and to finish 17th would be a great success. We want to stay in this league. I didn’t expect it would be an easy ride.

“We had to work with limited resources in the summer with profit and sustainability rules, we had challenges also in the summer transfer window and it was always clear there would be a period where not all performances and results go our way.”

Daniel Farke said he and his players were “fully prepared” for the criticism and pressure they are currently facing in their Premier League survival bid.

Leeds dropped into the bottom three last weekend and remained there after a narrow 2-1 loss to Aston Villa on Sunday consigned them to a fifth defeat in their last six matches.

Farke, whose side play at Manchester City on Saturday before back-to-back home games against Chelsea and Liverpool, recently claimed his future had not been discussed by him and the club’s hierarchy.

And when asked what gave him the belief his struggling side could beat the drop, he said: “We are fully concentrated and focused. I’m confident and I’m also fully convinced. To be honest, myself and my players were fully prepared for such a situation that this would happen.”

City suffered further disappointment as they lost meekly to Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Guardiola accepted the blame for that 2-0 loss after admitting he erred in making 10 changes to his starting line-up.

There were times in the game when City players tried to rally an underwhelmed crowd, but Guardiola does not blame the fans for their lack of enthusiasm.

He hopes it will be a different story when Leeds visit the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

He said: “As a fan I would not cheer my team, playing in the way we played. I don’t blame (them), I blame myself.

“Our fans make the effort to come to see us and we are incredibly grateful, and I know the stadium because I’ve been for many, many years.

“If you do what you have to do, they are there, and this is what you have to try to do.”

After a defeat at Aston Villa last month, Guardiola had felt, with comfortable wins over Bournemouth and Liverpool, that City were starting to build momentum.

The 2-1 reverse at St James’ Park was a frustrating slip.

Guardiola said: “We had it before the international break, but we gave away chances at Newcastle with aggression and intensity.

“We made a really good game, we created more in Newcastle than previous seasons and it was quite good, but we lost.

“Now we have to regain our momentum to start winning games and being there because there is still so long in the season.”

Pep Guardiola feels Manchester City now have little room for error in the title race.

Last weekend’s defeat at Newcastle – City’s fourth of the campaign – has left them seven points behind leaders Arsenal in the Premier League.

Such is the form of the Gunners, who have suffered only one defeat and conceded just six times in 12 games, that Guardiola accepts they could be tough to catch.

The City manager said: “We cannot lose games, absolutely – that is the truth.

“They are so strong and winning games, and winning games in a way where they are so solid, like we had in the past with Liverpool against us and they were not going to drop many points.

“That’s why you have to be up there and this is what we will try to do.”