Premier League team news and line-ups tonight as Foden and Cancelo set for bench

After Arsenal’s Boxing Day victory over West Ham the pressure is back on Manchester City to regain lost ground on the current Premier League leaders. Pep Guardiola’s men come into the match sitting third in the table and eight points behind the Gunners although they have a game in hand on the London club.

The 2021/22 champions are still the favourites to go on and win the title but this season they face the challenge of chasing down a team above them instead of leading the way. City’s first match back following the World Cup break saw them overcome Liverpool 3-2 in the Carabao Cup fourth round with striker Erling Haaland on target once again despite not playing for six weeks.

Their opponents tonight are Jesse Marsch’sLeeds United who are looking to further distance themselves from the relegation zone. The Whites are just two points above the drop zone but they do have a couple of games in hand on the eight teams around them in the bottom half of the table. Can they shock Manchester City at Elland Road tonight?

Follow all the action with our live blog below:

Leeds vs Man City

• Leeds host Manchester City in the Premier League with kick off at 8pm

• City chasing down Arsenal for top spot in table as Leeds look to push away from relegation zone

• Leeds goalkeeper Illan Meslier has recovering from glandular fever and Tyler Adams is suspended

• Kalvin Phillips won’t feature against his old club but Erling Haaland expected to start

Leeds United FC – Manchester City FC

‘Overweight’ Kalvin Phillips warned over Manchester City return by Pep Guardiola

18:47 , Michael Jones

Pep Guardiola has revealed he dropped Kalvin Phillips because the midfielder came back from the World Cup overweight and has told him he will not play for Manchester City again until he is in the correct shape.

The 27-year-old was a notable absentee from City’s 3-2 Carabao Cup win over Liverpool when Guardiola named other members of England’s World Cup squad – John Stones, Kyle Walker, Jack Grealish and Phil Foden – on the bench and brought three of them on.

Story continues

And Guardiola has said the summer signing was not in the right condition to play as he told him to lose weight.

“He’s not injured,” he said. “He arrived overweight. I don’t know [why]. He didn’t arrive in the condition to do training sessions and to play.”

‘Overweight’ Kalvin Phillips warned over Man City return by Pep Guardiola

Leeds vs Man City

18:42 , Michael Jones

Manchester City scored 11 goals without reply against Leeds last season, winning 7-0 at home and 4-0 at Elland Road.

If they triumph tonight they will win three consecutive league matches versus Leeds for the first time since a run of four from 1980 to 1983.

Man City looking to ‘hit ground running’ as they resume title defence at Leeds

18:38 , Michael Jones

Manchester City have ground to make up as they resume their Premier League title defence with a trip to Leeds United on Wednesday.

The champions went into the World Cup break trailing leaders Arsenal by five points – a gap that has increased to eight following the Gunners’ Boxing Day win over West Ham.

City returned to action with an upbeat performance in a 3-2 win over Liverpool in the Carabao Cup last week and now hope to maintain the momentum.

Man City looking to ‘hit ground running’ as they resume title defence at Leeds

No Foden for City?

18:33 , Michael Jones

Some early reports speculate that Manchester City will start tonight’s match without Joao Cancelo, Kyle Walker, and Phil Foden. The official team news will be dropping in around half an hour so it’ll be interesting to see how Pep Guardiola lines up his team.

Leeds vs Man City prediction

18:30 , Michael Jones

A tricky return to league action for Pep Guardiola’s team, who have tended to struggle up against an energetic Leeds team in the past.

Yet the selection issues the hosts have – coupled with City’s squad depth – means Jesse Marsch’s side will be firmly up against it this time round.

Leeds 1-4 Manchester City.

Leeds vs Man City predicted line-ups

18:25 , Michael Jones

Leeds: Klaesson; Kristensen, Cooper, Koch, Struijk; Roca, Forshaw; Aaronson, Rodrigo, Harrison; Gelhardt

Manchester City: Ederson; Walker, Stones, Akanji, Cancelo; Gundogan, Rodri, De Bruyne; B. Silva, Haaland, Foden

Leeds vs Man City early team news

18:20 , Michael Jones

Leeds goalkeeper Illan Meslier should be fit enough to start after a recent bout of glandular fever but Tyler Adams is suspended after his red card against Spurs before the World Cup break.

Manchester City’s Ruben Dias is out for a month due to a hamstring injury, while Kalvin Phillips will not feature due to concerns over his fitness.

Julian Alvarez is also missing from the squad after being given time off to celebrate Argentina’s World Cup victory.

How to watch Leeds vs Man City

18:15 , Michael Jones

The game will be played at 8:00pm (GMT) on Wednesday 28th December at Elland Road.

This match will be shown live on Amazon Prime Video. That means while it’s not on a terrestrial or digital TV channel, it can be streamed via any TV or device which has access to the Prime Video app or desktop website.

If you’re not an Amazon Prime Video subscriber start a free 30-day trial here. We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

Leeds vs Man City

17:55 , Michael Jones

Good evening and welcome to The Independent’s coverage of tonight’s footballing action as Leeds host Manchester City in the Premier League.

Jesse Marsch’s are looking to rediscover the form that saw Leeds defeat Liverpool and Bournemouth in back-to-back games a couple of months ago. Those wins propelled them up the table and his given the club a two point cushion to play with as they look to avoid relegation. Their last outing before the World Cup break was a heated 4-3 loss to Tottenham but Leeds put in a spirited performance and will need to do the same against Man City tonight.

Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola’s men are hoping to close the gap on Arsenal back to five points but they’ll need a victory this evening to do so. Dropped points at this stage of the competition could prove crucial in the Premier League title race a few months down the line. City got their domestic campaign back underway with a 3-2 Carabao Cup win over Liverpool last time out and will be hoping to replicate that performance against Leeds.

Kick off for this game is at 8pm and we’ll have all the build-up, team news and updates from Elland Road.