Fresh from a 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League, Manchester City return to Premier League action to take on Leeds United at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
It will be the first top-flight encounter between these two sides at this venue since December 2003, with the reverse fixture earlier in the season yielding a 1-1 draw. When it comes to famous upsets, the Premier League is the ideal casino for sporting fans to gamble on, but City’s form is such that betting against the house (home team) seems to be a bad gamble this time around.
The hosts are unbeaten in their last three competitive meetings with Leeds at home (W2, D1), albeit it is worth noting that their last such showdown dates back to February 2013.
Manchester City Preview
Ahead of the kick-off, the Cityzens have racked up three consecutive comprehensive Premier League triumphs, all of which produced a winning margin of 2+ goals and saw City net precisely two second-half goals.
The runaway Premier League leaders have gone unbeaten in 41 top-flight matches against newly-promoted sides (W36, D5) since succumbing to a 2-0 reverse to Reading in February 2007.
Pep Guardiola's men have been a force to be reckoned with this calendar year, notably winning all but one of their 17 Premier League fixtures since the turn of 2021 (L1).
No team has registered more clean sheets than Manchester City (17) this season, thanks in part to Ruben Dias’s magnificent performances, with the hosts only three shutouts away from tying the club's best-ever such feat in a single Premier League campaign.
The Etihad outfit have preserved a blank sheet in 58.82% of their league matches since the calendar flipped to 2021 (10/17), letting in an average of just 0.52 goals per game.
Leeds United Preview
Confidence is there for Leeds as they've gone from three consecutive Premier League fixtures without a victory (D1, L2) to back-to-back triumphs, both of which yielded the identical 2-1 scoreline.
Coming into this matchday, the visitors are the only side in the English top-flight yet to draw an away league match this season (GP15 - W7, L8), with 46.67% of those contests won/lost witnessing the winner on the day record a shutout.
Marcelo Bielsa's men have struggled to cope with the best Premier League sides lately, frustratingly winning just once in their previous 19 league clashes against the teams starting the day top of the table (D9, L9).
One bright spot has been Leeds' ability to preserve the lead, as evidenced by the fact that they have won all five Premier League games in which they were leading at half-time this season.
However, a lack of capacity to dig themselves out of trouble has seen the Elland Road side end up on the losing side in 90.91% of the league matches after trailing at the interval this term (GP11 - D1, L10).
Team News
Manchester City
Out: N/A
Doubts: N/A
Leeds United
Out: Adam Forshaw, Jack Harrison.
Doubts: N/A
Predicted Line-ups
Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Ederson; Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Aymeric Laporte, Benjamin Mendy; Ilkay Gundogan, Fernandinho; Bernardo Silva, Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus; Sergio Aguero.
Leeds United (4-1-4-1): Illan Meslier; Luke Ayling, Diego Llorente, Liam Cooper, Ezgjan Alioski; Kalvin Phillips; Helder Costa, Tyler Roberts, Stuart Dallas, Raphinha; Patrick Bamford.