Pep Guardiola would be “silly not to play” Man City star vs. Leeds as bold Erling Haaland prediction is made

Rayan Cherki should start for Manchester City in Saturday’s Premier League clash with Leeds United at the Etihad Stadium, Citizens expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany has told Sports Mole.

The 22-year-old summer signing from Lyon experienced a disrupted start to the 2025-26 campaign due to injury, but the playmaker has still shown glimpses of his talent when called upon by manager Pep Guardiola.

Cherki, who scored on his Premier League debut as a substitute on the opening weekend of the season, has chipped in with three goals and three assists in 11 appearances across all competitions, recording two of those assists in a 3-1 home win over Bournemouth earlier this month.

The France international has started in each of Man City’s last three Premier League games before beginning as a substitute in the Citizens’ disappointing 2-0 Champions League defeat to Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday when Guardiola made 10 changes to his lineup.

McInerney, who expects Guardiola to revert to his previous lineup this weekend, has urged the Catalan coach to play Cherki against an out-of-sorts Leeds outfit and allow the talented playmaker to continue ‘adapting’ to the rigours of Premier League football.

“Get that talent shining” – Cherki backed to start for Man City against Leeds

Speaking to Sports Mole before City’s loss to Leverkusen, McInerney said: “I think Guardiola does have a relative preferred XI and I think he’s leaning towards it right now.

“I think this is the kind of game where Cherki will get space on the ball, and in front of the Etihad fans, I think he’ll have time to express himself.

“I think Guardiola is playing Cherki into the league for a reason. I think he understands how talented he is. It’s very easy to tell someone, but sometimes you’ve just got to show him.

“I think with all the physicality of the Premier League, the only way he’s going to experience or adapt to it is just to be on the pitch.

“To me, if you want to integrate him and get that talent shining, it’d be silly not to play him against Leeds at home, because that’s a banker of a win in my opinion, so he should be on the pitch to experience more of that.

“[Phil] Foden will start, Nico Gonzalez will start, [Jeremy] Doku will probably start, [Erling] Haaland will probably start, [Josko] Gvardiol, [Ruben] Dias, I can’t really see any changes there. [Nico] O’Reilly, [Matheus] Nunes will probably start again… I think it’s very obvious that Guardiola likes a certain lineup right now and I think he’ll go for it.”

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Haaland to score “more than one” as Man City “give Leeds a pasting”

Cherki will likely play alongside fellow playmaker Foden and they could both provide support in attack for central striker Erling Haaland, who is looking to score his 100th Premier League goal in record-breaking time, as well as his 15th league goal of the season.

Haaland, who began as a substitute in midweek, was born in Leeds where his Norwegian father, Alf-Inge Haaland, played for three years and made 91 appearances before joining Man City in 2000.

McInerney has backed Man City’s No.9 to “succeed” in front of goal against a Leeds team that he “loves” and expects the Citizens to return to winning ways in comfortable fashion.

“[Haaland is] a fan of [Leeds]. He’s never hidden the fact that he was growing up, he was a fan of Leeds, a fan of Man City as well,” said McInerney. “People always argue if he’s a Leeds fan (or a City fan), I think he supports both. It really is that simple.

“He was born in Leeds, his dad played for Leeds and his dad also is a Manchester City fan because he played for Man City and captained City at one point – it’s that simple. I think Haaland loves both clubs very dearly and very deeply, so I think he would love to score that (100th) goal against Leeds.

“Something tells me he’s going to score more than one. I think he’s going to have a great time against Leeds United because he’s that kind of person. I think he would utterly love to destroy the club that he loves, because he’s Haaland and I suspect he’ll probably succeed.”

Sharing his score prediction, McInerney said: “I expect this to be a pretty comfortable home win… I’m going for a big one, I’m going for 5-0.

“I think City are going to really turn up. It could be higher like 6-0 or something like that. I really truly believe City are going to turn up in this one and give Leeds a pasting.”

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