How Man City should line-up vs Bristol City in the FA Cup

Manchester City will be hoping they can continue their momentum from the weekend at Bristol City in midweek.

The Blues comfortably beat AFC Bournemouth on Saturday as they returned to winning ways following a frustrating period. City know that a win on Tuesday will secure them a place in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

Pep Guardiola did not rule out either Aymeric Laporte or John Stones for the trip to Bristol while he deemed Kevin De Bruyne was much better after the Belgian was left still feeling the effects of the illness which kept him out of the draw at RB Leipzig. With that in mind, our two City writers have chosen their teams for the clash with Nigel Pearson's side.

ALSO READ: Guardiola press conference pre-Bristol City

Stefan Ortega has been confirmed as starting and this seems like it has to be nailed on for Kalvin Phillips to play. He got 30 minutes at Bournemouth and if he doesn't start games like this where does he? Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva can come in for this one too after sitting out the match at the weekend.

Julian Alvarez should get a chance up top to give Erling Haaland a rest, while Jack Grealish can also put his feet up with Phil Foden switching to the left to accommodate Riyad Mahrez. That should be more than enough in attack.

In defence, hopefully Aymeric Laporte can be fit to partner Ruben Dias and also help Sergio Gomez along for a rare start at left-back. If Walker plays, Gomez can be the one that pushes forward into midfield and City should still have enough cover.

Guardiola suggested that he would be choosing a ‘serious’ team against Bristol City on Tuesday night but he should not pass up the opportunity to rotate. Stefan Ortega will start in goal, you would presume, as he has