So it was all for nothing.
A fairly innocuous-looking article posted by The Guardian’s Jamie Jackson on Friday morning sparked much discussion in the Fantasy community about the possibility of Sergio Aguero (£11.0m) being dropped by Pep Guardiola for the visit of Huddersfield Town this afternoon.
That rumour – and Jackson’s subsequent, panic-inducing Tweet minutes before the Gameweek 2 deadline yesterday morning – proved to be somewhat wide of the mark, with Aguero lining up alongside Gabriel Jesus (£10.5m) in the 13:30 BST kick-off at the Etihad.
There isn’t such good news for owners of Raheem Sterling (£11.0m), Riyad Mahrez (£9.0m) and Kyle Walker (£6.5m), all of whom begin this match on the bench.
David Silva (£8.4m) and Vincent Kompany (£5.5m), along with Jesus, make their first league starts of the season in their stead.
Kevin De Bruyne (£9.9m) was ruled out for up to three months by City on Friday, so Ilkay Gundogan (£5.5m) once again starts in the centre.
Huddersfield Town are without the injured Zanka (£4.5m) and Jonathan Hogg (£4.5m) for the trip to Manchester, with Aaron Mooy (£5.5m) also missing to attend the birth of his child.
Jon Stankovic (£4.0m), Tommy Smith (£4.5m) and Abdelhamid Sabiri (£4.5m) come into the Terriers’ side, who look to be once again playing 3-5-1-1.
In the other Premier League fixture to kick-off this Sunday lunchtime, Burnley play host to Watford.
The Clarets were taken to extra-time by Istanbul Basaksehir in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday night, but their midweek exertions have had little impact on Sean Dyche’s starting XI – the Clarets’ team is the same one that drew 0-0 with Southampton last Sunday. Joe Hart (£4.5m) once again starts in goal.
Watford, meanwhile, are also unchanged from the side that beat Brighton and Hove Albion last weekend.
MANCHESTER CITY XI: Ederson, Mendy, Kompany, Stones, Laporte, Gundogan, Fernandinho, D. Silva, Bernardo, Jesus, Aguero
HUDDERSFIELD TOWN XI: Hamer, Kongolo, Smith, Schindler, Stankovic, Lowe, Billing, Hadergjonaj, Sabiri, Pritchard, Mounie
BURNLEY XI: Hart, Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Ward, Lennon, Cork, Westwood, Gudmundsson, Hendrick, Wood
WATFORD XI: Foster, Janmaat, Cathcart, Holebas, Kabasele, Capoue, Doucoure, Hughes, Pereyra, Deeney, Gray
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