Man City v Leicester
Monday 20:00, Sky Sports Premier League
Match Odds: Man City 1.171/6, Leicester 20.019/1, The Draw 10.09/1.
Manchester City are now huge favourites for the Premier League title, but on Monday evening they face a Leicester City side fresh from a hugely impressive 3-0 thrashing of Arsenal last weekend. Liverpool will be hoping for a favour from Brendan Rodgers, their old boss.
Maddison likely to continue on the left
Rodgers used a slightly different system for that Arsenal win, putting James Maddison to the left flank and beefing up his central midfield zone. Maddison was effective from that role, picking up an assist and getting Arsenal right-back Ainsley Maitland-Niles dismissed, and therefore it seems likely that Rodgers will continue with that approach here.
The beneficiary of this system has been Hamza Choudhury, who has found himself in trouble this week for past social media activity, but will probably continue in a midfield trio alongside the excellent Youri Tielemans, who has really impressed throughout his loan spell, with Wilfried Ndidi sitting deeper and protecting the defence.
Marc Albrighton played on the right and is a defensively responsible wide midfielder, while Jamie Vardy will continue to lead the line, and has a particularly good record against big sides who used a high defensive line, where he can use his speed to go in behind.
Defensively, things should be the same, with Ricardo Pereira at right-back and Ben Chilwell at left-back, with Jonny Evans and Harry Maguire protecting Kasper Schmeichel.
De Bruyne and Fernandinho out
As always, Pep Guardiola's team selection is somewhat uncertain. He's definitely without Kevin De Bruyne, and probably also without Fernandinho, although City have largely coped well when deprived of those two so far this season. Ilkay Gundogan will play the holding role, with the two Silvas, Bernardo and David, given more license to push forward.
That is significant in terms of City's front three, because it means Guardiola is likely to use two outright wide forwards. Raheem Sterling will probably move to the right flank with Leroy Sane starting on the left. His battle against the similarly speedy Pereira could be fascinating.
Upfront, Sergio Aguero has probably enjoyed his best campaign in a City shirt, and his movement into the channels - in particularly up against left-sided centre-back Maguire, could be key in City finding the breakthrough.
Guardiola to bring his full-backs inside
At the other end, with Leicester so good on the counter-attack and Fernandinho probably out, Guardiola will probably bring his full-backs inside to defend against breaks through the middle. Kyle Walker is comfortable playing that role on the right, and with a doubt about Benjamin Mendy, expect Oleksandr Zinchenko to play from the left. As a converted midfielder, he's happy drifting inside.
Against Vardy's speed, it would be a huge surprise if Vincent Kompany started. Expect John Stones or Nicolas Otamendi to play alongside Aymeric Laporte, City's most consistent defender this season. Ederson's sweeping might also be a crucial factor as Leicester look to loft balls in behind for Vardy.
City are evidently strong favourites to win this match, but I'm a little surprised to see a draw available at 10.09/1 here. Perhaps that reflects the fact a draw would be largely useless to City, and they may as well go for broke and risk losing the game, but I think it's a decent price against a Leicester side who can be solid defensively and good on the break. I'll back the draw at 10.09/1.