Our Manchester City fans here in the Transfer Tavern are hoping to bounce back from back-to-back defeats against Liverpool and Man United in the past week. Having conceded six goals, Pep will surely want to fire a warning to his players and get them back to their brilliant self.

Man City are blowing teams away in the Premier League this season and have looked a shoe-in for the title for some time, and our regulars agree. The Citizens have a healthy gap between their neighbours and local rivals Man United, and a comeback quarter-final aggregate win against Liverpool tonight will put them in the hat for the semi-final of the Champions League.

Pep Guardiola will be hoping to move closer to securing his second piece of silverware as City boss in his second season, with the February League Cup final giving them some huge momentum going into the end of the season.

With the games coming thick and fast in the upcoming period and only points of winning the Premier League, Guardiola will look to sprinkle his team with a little extra motivation to keep the squad ticking over nicely. Read on as our landlord takes a look at TWO players that need to start this game tonight…

Kyle Walker

After his big money move in the summer, Walker has impressed in the right-back role this season. The marauding full-back will need to be at his best on the right-hand side at the Etihad tonight, bombing forward and giving the Liverpool left-back some major headaches for the 90 minutes.

If Walker is to cement his place for many seasons as the number one full-back, then he’ll have to give a big performance when he can and helping his team to a semi-final can only help his case.

Leroy Sane

The German midfielder is in inspired form this season and, alongside Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling, has been the main catalyst for City’s unbelievable winning form this season. His pace and finishing ability has made him one of the most feared players in the Premier League, and he’ll need to show all of that tonight if City are to progress.

Another summer signing Bernardo Silva has shone in recent times, and this has kept competition for places high throughout the squad, whilst Sane has pushed on every time he’s been on the pitch – our regulars are hoping that both can perform at their highest levels.