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After a commanding 5-1 thumping of Crystal Palace on Wednesday in the Capital One Cup, it was confirmed that Pablo Zabaleta had re-injured the medial ligament in the same knee he had injured in the beginning of the season. With his injury, Manchester City's injury list increases to six players, with Sergio Aguero, Samir Nasri, Gael Clichy, David Silva, and Fabian Delph. Gael Clichy, after a long battle with an ankle injury, might be in contention for a spot on the bench, or even the starting XI for next week's visit to Villa Park against Aston Villa. The same applies for David Silva, who will likely return for the match against Aston Villa.
After Manchester City fielded a 4-4-2 formation against Crystal Palace, which yielded positive results, Manchester City could revert to a 4-2-3-1 in order to experiment with Kelechi Iheanacho as a lone striker. With the young Nigerian striker showing his ability when given the opportunity, he might unseat misfiring Wilfried Bony, who is yet to justify the £25 million Manchester City paid in the 2014 Winter Transfer window. If Manuel Pellegrini decides with retaining a 4-4-2, then Bony and Iheanacho would likely be paired up front. With the news of David Silva not yet match fit for Saturday's match against Norwich and Raheem Sterling not appearing on the Capital One Cup squad list for the match against Palace, it is likely that Jesus Navas and Kevin de Bruyne will play out wide.
With Vincent Kompany on the bench for the match against Palace, it looks like he could return against Norwich in place of Martin Demichelis, who partnered with Eliaquim Mangala in defense. With the return of Aleksandar Kolarov to the starting line-up against Palace and a knee injury suffered by Pablo Zabaleta, it looks like Bacary Sagna will be restored in the right-back position. As per usual, it looks like Yaya Toure will take his place in the heart of midfield, with either Fernando or Fernandinho partnering him in midfield, after Fernando played alongside Toure in the midfield on Wednesday against Palace.
My Predicted Line-Up: