Haaland is out as City turn the tables on Leeds

Erling Holland is unable to take part in this evening's match against Leeds United.

Our Norwegian top scorer will be completely unfit for the match at Elland Road, so Ryan Cherky will return to the starting XI.

Jeremy Doku makes a welcome return to the bench.

Others: Donnarumma, Nunes, Dias, Guéhi, Ait-Nouri, Rodrigo, Bernardo (C), O'Reilly, Semenyo, Cherki, Marmoush

Mga Subs: Trafford, Reynders, Stones, Ake, Doku, Nico, Savigno, Khusanov, Foden.

Leeds United: Darlow, Bogle, Justin, Rodan, Struik, Gudmundsson?Stache, Ampadu, Grove, Aaronson;Calvert-Lewin

Cúlcistí: Perry, Bornauw, Bija, Longstaff, Tanaka, James, Gnontho, Nmetsa, Piroe

Tactics and formation

It will be interesting to see if Pep Guardiola makes any tactical adjustments against Leeds, given the problems they gave us in the second half at the Etihad in November.

Gigio Donnarumma will change his place in goal, with Matheus Nunes and Rayan Ait-Nouri at right and left back.

Our central defenders are Ruben Dias and Marc Guéhi, with a midfield trio of Rodri, Bernardo and Nico O'Reilly.

Antoine Semenyo and Cherki will support Omar Marmoush who will play in the center of the front.

Leeds reborn - thanks to City?

City face a resurgent Leeds United who haven't really looked back since visiting the Etihad last November.

On the day, City looked set for a comfortable victory as we went in at the break 2-0 up against Daniel Farke's side thanks to goals from Phil Foden and Josko Gvardiol.

Indeed, many wondered whether the German boss would come under heavy pressure if he left the Etihad with a heavy loss, but instead he rolled the dice, brought on Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Jaka Bijal and changed the two-man formation up front and the visitors were transformed.

In the 68th minute, goals from Calvert Lewin and Lukas Nemecha added to the revenge and the visitors were looking for a win.

However, Foden's stoppage-time winner gave the Blues the points, but Farke saw enough to take a different approach.

They have lost just two of their 14 Premier League games since then (including two FA Cup unbeatens) and it was a very different feeling this evening.

City will need to see off one of the best teams in the division and the Elland Road crowd if they are to keep up the pressure on Arsenal this weekend.

Statistics and facts

Leeds have lost each of their last five Premier League games against City, losing just four of their first 16 in the competition (W7 D5).

City have won their last two away league games against Leeds. In their first three visits to Elland Road between 1924 and 1928, City have won three in a row just once.

Since the start of December, Leeds United have drawn more games than any other Premier League team (8), and the Whites have won 1-0 in three of their last four meetings which have all ended 1-1.

Since the 2017-18 season, Manchester City have conceded more than two goals in three of their 52 Premier League games against newly promoted sides - two of them against Leeds United (1-2 in April 2021 and 3-2 in November 2025) and one against Daniel Farke's Norwich City in September 2021-3 (lo).

Leeds United have not lost their last 25 league or play-off games that started after 5pm (W20 D5) at Elland Road since a 6–1 defeat at Liverpool in April 2023.

City will play this game a day before Arsenal, with whom they are chasing the Premier League title, face Chelsea.City have lost just one of their last 14 Premier League games when playing the day before the Gunners (W10 D3), losing 2-1 to Newcastle in November earlier this season.

Since the start of the 2021-22 season, Leeds have kept just one clean sheet in seven of their 43 Premier League games when they scored their first goal - their two games of the season gave them a 1-0 lead in the 84th minute (against Everton) and 90 (against Fulham);As they lead 1-0 in the first half, Leeds have kept a clean sheet in their last 21 games since a 3-0 win over Chelsea in August 2022.

Leeds striker Erling Haaland scored two Premier League goals on his last visit to Elland Road in December 2022 for Man City, although he failed to find the net in his two home games against Leeds.No away player has scored more than 2 goals in consecutive Premier League visits to Elland Road.

Stay tuned for City v Nottingham Forest!

We welcome Forest to the Etihad Stadium at 7.30pm (UK) on Wednesday 4th March.

And you can be there to see it as Pep Guardiola's City continue their pursuit of Premier League glory.

Tickets for this game are on sale now to all fans, with prices starting from £43 for adults and £23 for U18 children.

Or, if you want something a little more special, hospitality packages start from just £199 with other experiences to suit all budgets.