Pep Guardiola made seven changes to the Manchester City team who beat Newcastle in the FA Cup and the result was a heavy Champions League defeat to Real Madrid.
Here are the five players who the manager needs to reinstate in order to return to winning ways against West Ham this weekend.
Mathues Nunes must start for Man City
Nunes was the only player who remained in Man City’s team for their recent FA Cup tie after the 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest.
He was surprisingly switched out on Wednesday, with Abdukodir Khusanov taking up the right-back position.
Although Nunes is not traditionally a defender, he has looked far more comfortable there this season than Khasanov did, so he should be starting on Saturday.
Rayan Ait-Nouri should be playing at left-back
Whether he is attacking or defending, Ait-Nouri has a lot to offer and it was quite bizarre that he did not start against Real Madrid.
Nico O’Reilly struggled to cope at right-back and he was absolutely destroyed by Federico Valverde’s pace just before the Uruguayan opened the scoring.
Ait-Nouri can help bring some flair out wide when Man City attack and he has more of a defensive presence than O’Reilly, so surely he has to play against West Ham.
Rayan Cherki should be back in the starting lineup
Savinho had a good game at St James’ Park, but to start him against Real Madrid seemed a bit reactionary.
Rayan Cherki would have offered more creativity and he might have helped play that one ball which could cause the breakthrough for Man City.
The Frenchman might not have a high number of goals or assists, but he did set one up when City played Forest and he should be back in to face West Ham.
Omar Marmoush deserves another chance
If Savinho was given a start against Real Madrid due to his performance at Newcastle, why was Marmoush not afforded the same privilege?
The Egyptian forward was brilliant in the FA Cup clash and he scored two very important goals which pushed his team towards victory.
Erling Haaland has had a couple of dodgy games now, so maybe bringing Marmoush in would provide some additional inspriation up front. Who knows, he might actually make a run towards the opposition goal when a cross comes in!
