Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has named summer signing Josko Gvardiol on the substitutes' bench for tonight's 2023-24 Premier League opener against Burnley at Turf Moor.
The 21-year-old defender completed his £77.6m transfer from RB Leipzig last week, but he was not involved in the Citizens' Community Shield loss on penalties to Arsenal last Sunday.
Guardiola confirmed at his pre-match press conference that Gvardiol would be available for selection against Burnley, but the Catalan boss has opted against handing the Croatian his full debut this evening.
Fellow new recruit Mateo Kovacic is one of five players to drop out of the side that started against Arsenal along with goalkeeper Stefan Ortega, Jack Grealish, John Stones and Ruben Dias - the latter two have not travelled with the matchday squad to Turf Moor.
Ederson, Rico Lewis, Nathan Ake, Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne have all been recalled to the first XI, with the latter captaining the side and starting his first game since tearing his hamstring in the Champions League final triumph over Inter Milan in June.
Man City are set to line up with a back four of Kyle Walker, Manuel Akanji, Ake and Lewis, with De Bruyne, Rodri and Bernardo Silva operating in midfield, while last season's top scorer Erling Haaland will lead the line in between Foden and Julian Alvarez.
As for Burnley, Vincent Kompany has named five new signings in his starting lineup for the club's first game back in the top flight, including goalkeeper James Trafford who is making his competitive debut after joining from Man City last month.
Dara O'Shea, Sander Berge, Luca Koleosho and Zeki Amdouni have also been handed their first start for the Clarets, who are set to line up with either a three-man or five-man defence with Connor Roberts and Vitinho operating as wing-backs.
Burnley starting lineup: Trafford; Roberts, O'Shea, Beyer, Al-Dakhil, Vitinho; Berge, Cullen, Koleosho; Amdouni, Forster
Subs: Muric, Cork, Gudmundsson, Brownhill, Benson, Ekdal, Redmond, Zaroury, Bruun Larsen
Manchester City starting lineup: Ederson; Walker, Akanji, Ake, Lewis; De Bruyne, Rodri, Bernardo; Foden, Haaland, Alvarez
Subs: Ortega, Phillips, Kovacic, Grealish, Laporte, Gomez, Gvardiol, Palmer, McAtee
Oliver Thomas
