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Topics: Man City, Liverpool, Pep Guardiola
Jack Kenmare
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has made a significant change to his starting XI for their top-of-the-table clash against Liverpool.
City are currently on a run of six games without a win in all competitions after they recorded a 3-3 draw against Feyenoord on Tuesday night.
After the match, Pep Guardiola used the words “weak" and "fragile" while discussing his team's defensive failures. “We concede a lot of goals because we are not stable,” he added.
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Now, five days on from conceding three goals in 15 minutes, Guardiola has decided to start Stefan Ortega instead of first-team regular Ederson.
Ruben Dias has also been drafted in for the much-anticipated clash at Anfield, while Ilkay Gundogan, Matheus Nunes, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden feature alongside Erling Haaland.
Fans were quick to react to Ortega starting over Ederson, who featured in their Champions League clash against Feyenoord.
One said: "Ortega starting and I can’t say I didn’t expect this or I’m not happy about it. Always been reliable for us when needed CMON STEFANN," while another wrote: "
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A third commented: "City are and always will be a better team with Ederson playing. But considering the amount of chances they’re giving away at the moment, having Ortega, the supposedly better shot-stopper, might not be a bad idea."
A fourth said: "In Stefan Ortega we trust," and a fifth added: "Wow! Can’t say I’m overly surprised, Ederson nowhere near his best lately. Defence isn’t helping but he hasn’t covered himself in glory either."
You can see the full line-up below.:
Ahead of this weekend's clash, Guardiola insisted his side will only return to their best “when all the players come back”.
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He added: "We will not be back by winning at Anfield. Until those players come back, we will not be back. I’m sorry to say that. I would love to say we are going to win at Anfield and then 20 games. But in the situation we are in, we will not be back.
"The only chance we come back is if John Stones is back – he is injured and he will be a long time."
It has been an uncharacteristically poor spell for the Citizens but they will be hoping to close the gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool. Can they do it? Let us know in the comments.