Manchester City commence their 2026/27 UEFA Champions League campaign with an away tie against Porto on Tuesday night.
The Citizens became the sixth English team to win Europe's leading competition in the 2022/23 campaign, overcoming Inter Milan 1-0 in the final in Istanbul via a goal from 2024 Ballon d'Or winner Rodri.
They've failed to surpass the quarter-finals in the three editions since, however, knocked out by Spanish giants Real Madrid on each occasion.
Man City's trip to the Estádio do Dragão will mark Enzo Maresca's first UEFA Champions League game since succeeding Pep Guardiola, but he did oversee six games in the competition during his spell at Chelsea -- winning three times, drawing once and losing on two occasions.
While Man City's start to the Premier League season hasn't necessarily been pretty -- with the exception of a 4-1 win over Crystal Palace -- they have clinched maximum points thus far and so it's hard to imagine Marecsa will make wholesale changes to the side.
They do face Manchester United on Sunday afternoon, however, and so there could be some room for change.
Matheus Nunes has featured just once so far under the stewardship of Maresca -- coming on as a substitute in their 2-1 win over Bournemouth -- and he could be in line to replace Abdukodir Khusanov, who has started all three games at right-back this season.
A defensive duo of Ruben Dias and Marc Guehi may remain, while unused Rayan Ait-Nouri could return to the starting XI in place of Josko Gvardiol.
Marecsa has stressed Ayyoub Bouaddi's need for minutes following his £85m switch from Lille, and he may be set for a first start in blue alongside Elliot Anderson in the engine room.
The Man City boss might opt for the same front four that devastated Crystal Palace in gameweek 2 of the Premier League season. This would see Antoine Semenyo, Rayan Cherki and Phil Foden start behind Norwegian brute Erling Haaland.
Iliman Ndiaye and Enzo Fernandez could start the game from the bench after making their Citizens debuts against Coventry on Saturday afternoon, while injured duo Jeremy Doku and Nico O'Reilly will miss out through injury.
Predicted Manchester City XI to face Porto
Gianluigi Donnarumma
Matheus Nunes
Ruben Dias
Marc Guehi
Rayan Ait-Nouri
Ayyoub Bouaddi
Elliot Anderson
Antoine Semenyo
Phil Foden
Rayan Cherki
Erling Haaland
