Man City lineup vs. Bayer Leverkusen: Predicted starting XI, team news, injury list with Stones, Reijnders, Marmoush in contention
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Manchester City suffered a blow in their Premier League title aspirations at the weekend, as a 2-1 loss at Newcastle United contributed to them falling seven points behind Arsenal at the summit.
Pep Guardiola’s side have performed impressively in the UEFA Champions League so far this term and have three wins in four undefeated outings ahead of the visit of Bayer Leverkusen.
The 2023/24 Bundesliga champions have endured a slightly chaotic period since head coach Xabi Alonso’s departure to Real Madrid. Former Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag was appointed as Alonso’s replacement but sacked after two games in charge.
Former Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand was appointed a week after Ten Hag’s departure and has only lost once in the Bundesliga, 3-0 to Bayern Munich.
The Champions League has proved a trickier proposition so far, with Leverkusen winning one of their first four matches and suffering a 7-2 shellacking at Paris Saint-Germain.
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Man City lineup vs. Bayer Leverkusen: Projected starting XI
Formation: 4-3-3
Donnarumma (GK)
Khusanov, Stones, Dias, Gvardiol
Foden, Nico, Reijnders
Marmoush, Haaland, Doku
Man City team news
John Stones has only started one Premier League game since August but Guardiola has named his longest-serving player in each of his past three XIs in Europe. Expect him to turn to his European specialist once again, alongside weekend goalscorer Ruben Dias, with Josko Gvardiol redeployed to full-back.
Tijani Reijnders and Omar Marmoush have been left on the outside looking in, with Guardiola naming unchanged teams in City’s past three Premier League games.
Each could start here, with Bernardo Silva and Rayan Cherki candidates to step down, as the City manager continues to look for ways to spread the goalscoring burden beyond Erling Haaland.
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Man City injury list
Below is the latest injury picture for Manchester City, and estimated return dates for those who are sidelined.
Rodri
- Injury: Hamstring
- Expected return date: November 25
Rodri has suffered a couple of muscular injury setbacks since his return from ACL surgery at the FIFA Club World Cup.
A late substitute cameo against Bournemouth was his first competitive action since suffering a hamstring problem at Brentford a month ago. He sat out the Liverpool and Newcastle matches either side of the international break and any return here is likely to be from the bench.
Mateo Kovacic
- Injury: Heel/ankle
- Expected return date: February/March 2026
Croatia midfielder Kovacic underwent Achilles surgery over the summer but has suffered a serious setback.
After the 3-1 win over Bournemouth on November 2, Guardiola said the former Chelsea and Real Madrid player would be “out for a while”.
“He still has a problem with the ankle, a little calcification still there. We’ll wait on him for the last part of the season,” the City boss added. Croatian newspaper Sportske Novosti confirmed the news and said Kovacic’s recovery was likely to take three to four months.
Man City vs. Bayer Leverkusen match details
- Date: Tuesday, November 25, 2025
- Kickoff time: 8 p.m. local
- Location: Etihad Stadium (Manchester, UK)
- Competition: Champions League (league phase, matchweek 5)
- Referee: Joao Pinheiro (Portugal)
- VAR: Tiago Martins (Portugal)
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