Dugout Discussion
27 February 2021 1312 comments
Colm Hayes Colm Hayes
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Sergio Aguero (£10.3m) and Kevin De Bruyne (£11.8m) both start for Manchester City in their first Double Gameweek 26 fixture at home to West Ham.

Aguero makes his first appearance in a City starting XI since Gameweek 6 – in the reverse fixture against the Hammers – while De Bruyne made his full injury return by starting in the 1-0 win at Arsenal in Gameweek 25.

Ferran Torres (£6.9m) is another longer-term absentee making an injury comeback, which means a host of FPL assets find themselves on Pep Guardiola’s bench.

Raheem Sterling (£11.6m), Gabriel Jesus (£9.2m), Phil Foden (£6.1m) and Bernardo Silva (£7.4m) are all out of the XI, as is Joao Cancelo (£6.1m).

Rodri (£5.3m) is also on benchwarming duty as Fernandinho (£5.4m) earns a second consecutive league start, anchoring a midfield three also featuring De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan (£6.2m).

Aymeric Laporte (£6.0m) drops out of the starting line-up after beginning in the Champions League, as FPL managers’ favoured duo of Ruben Dias (£6.1m) and John Stones (£5.2m) are flanked in defence by Oleksandr Zinchenko (£5.5m) and Kyle Walker (£6.1m).

On his rotated side, Guardiola told BT Sport ahead of kick off:

Many games, we have two days recovery. We have a fantastic squad. Everyone deserves to play, all doing incredibly well, fresh legs and a very good mentality.

On West Ham, the Man City boss added:

Looks like they will play five at the back, previous seasons they did it as well, we knew it. They can do normal shape but they’ve done five at back at Old Trafford. The ideas are the same, good runners up front, two incredible holding midfielders. We try to impose our game.

Fabianski is absent for the Irons

Lukasz Fabianski (£5.0m) is the big name missing from West Ham’s starting line-up, with the Poland keeper ruled out due to a training-ground injury.

“Unfortunately one of the players just stood on Lukasz’s arm yesterday (in training). It’s swollen up, he’s just not been able to extend his arm. It’s a real blow, he’s been in really good form.” – David Moyes

Ireland international Darren Randolph (£4.3m) is between the sticks for the Hammers, behind a back five of Ben Johnson (£3.9m), Aaron Cresswell (£5.8m), Craig Dawson (£4.5m), Issa Diop (£4.3m) and Vladimir Coufal (£4.7m).

Declan Rice (£4.7m) and Tomas Soucek (£5.3m) will hope to add to the spoiling effect of Moyes’ five-man defence, behind a front three of Jesse Lingard (£5.9m), Pablo Fornals (£5.9m) and Michail Antonio (£6.5m).

Manchester City XI (4-3-3): Ederson; Zinchenko, Dias, Stones, Walker; Gundogan, Fernandinho, De Bruyne; Torres, Aguero, Mahrez.

West Ham United XI (5-2-2-1): Randolph; Johnson, Cresswell, Dawson, Diop, Coufal; Rice, Soucek; Fornals, Lingard; Antonio.

  1. DAZZ
    • 11 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Stones haha

  2. MoSalad
    • 12 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Stones & Dias owners in dreamland

    1. diesel001
      • 9 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      \o/

    2. Hulk Smash
      • 10 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Love it

    3. Good Times
      • 12 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Woot woot, now waiting for Ederson penalty

  3. Royal5
    • 14 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Ffs

  4. Digital-Real
    • 9 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    F sake Stone
    P off

  5. Baines on Toast...
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 15 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Cancelo is such a waste of money.

  6. Scapegoat Salah
    • 9 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Red arrow for me this week with Cancelo my only City defender 🙁

    1. AC/DC AFC
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      It's a double.

      Chin up.
      Long way to go...

      1. Scapegoat Salah
        • 9 Years
        5 years, 1 month ago

        Granted, worse start possible though really

  7. Rolls-Royce
    • 12 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    KdB wishes he could finish like John Stones.

    1. JJO
      • 13 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Haha rxactly this

  8. tbos83
    • 5 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    STONES GOAL

  9. moment
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 14 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Ah man, the Ederson route into the city defense is not working out for me.

  10. Bobby Crush
    • 11 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Clean sheet doesn't matter when both your city defenders score

    1. Botman and Robben
      • 9 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Agreed!

  11. nerd_is_the_werd
    • 6 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    JOHN STOONNEESSSSSSSSSSS

  12. Botman and Robben
    • 9 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Stones + Dias. Yippee!!

  13. Hotdogs for Tea
    • 10 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Stones is a beast

  14. COLLIN QUANER
    • 9 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    I am a Dias + Stones owner. Brilliant stuff. Very happy

  15. @persecuted_by_mods
      5 years, 1 month ago

      You gotta LOL at people who chat crap when there's time to go, the constant slaps on the face you invite

    • Jafooli
      • 14 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Stones 😎

    • Champions League Varane
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      DIAS AND STONES SIUUU

    • Abusive_Sgt_Daelrhos
      • 11 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      As Dias owner this is so bad

    • ⭐ Bemba_Da ⭐
      • 15 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Cancelo is probably the worst attacker in this team 😆

      1. @persecuted_by_mods
          5 years, 1 month ago

          Portuguese Lamptey

      2. Sandy Ravage
        • 10 Years
        5 years, 1 month ago

        DGW legend strikes again

      3. Paul Psychic Octopus
        • 15 Years
        5 years, 1 month ago

        OK, no clean sheet, but Dias + Stones owners (like me) must be happy with this.

        1. diesel001
          • 9 Years
          5 years, 1 month ago

          Of course. Now just need a Cancelo no show today and a 1pt cameo in mid-week

      4. Magic Zico
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 7 Years
        5 years, 1 month ago

        Thank you John Stones!

      5. Collie01
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 8 Years
        5 years, 1 month ago

        Stones and Dias owner in dreamland!!!!

        1. Champions League Varane
          • 7 Years
          5 years, 1 month ago

          Me too!

        2. Botman and Robben
          • 9 Years
          5 years, 1 month ago

          🙂 here two

      6. JIMMY TUGGINS
        • 7 Years
        5 years, 1 month ago

        Shame Stones is only back up for Laporte.

        1. Salah’s Sonnet
          • 14 Years
          5 years, 1 month ago

          Lol good joke

        2. Paul Psychic Octopus
          • 15 Years
          5 years, 1 month ago

          Laporte has been shown the door

          1. JIMMY TUGGINS
            • 7 Years
            5 years, 1 month ago

            He became third choice in about November but people still refuse to believe it.

      7. Scapegoat Salah
        • 9 Years
        5 years, 1 month ago

        Another week from hell underway, can sense it

      8. Salah’s Sonnet
        • 14 Years
        5 years, 1 month ago

        Owner of both, overjoyed

      9. el polako
        • 8 Years
        5 years, 1 month ago

        Ben Johnson is liability.

      10. Do I Not Like Orange
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 13 Years
        5 years, 1 month ago

        That's it, am rage-binning Cancelo. For all his galivanting up the pitch, the CBs have more end product.

      11. bitm2007
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 11 Years
        5 years, 1 month ago

        Dias, Stones, need a Gundo goal to complete the set now.

      12. Pukki Blinders
        • 6 Years
        5 years, 1 month ago

        Stones owners don’t deserve that. Pure luck what a joke