---
title: "Manchester City: Rest ‘rusty’ Ederson for Champions League tie, says Charlie Nicholas"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/manchester-city-rest-rusty-ederson-for-champions-league-tie-tips-charlie-nicholas/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Stephan Georgiou"
section: "Features"
published: "2019-11-26T16:10:01Z"
modified: "2019-11-26T16:10:01Z"
---

# Manchester City: Rest ‘rusty’ Ederson for Champions League tie, says Charlie Nicholas

**Sky Sports pundit Charlie Nicholas has backed Manchester City to avoid a slip-up in their Champions League tie against Shakhtar Donetsk – but feels the team could swap in Claudio Bravo for a ‘rusty’ Ederson in the City net.**

[Ederson](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/ederson/leistungsdaten/spieler/238223) made his comeback for the Premier League champions in their 2-1 win over Chelsea on Saturday after missing the defeat to Liverpool through injury before the international break.

Making his midweek Champions League predictions for [Sky Sports](https://www.skysports.com/football/news/12090/11870124/charlie-nicholas-champions-league-predictions-how-will-man-city-spurs-liverpool-and-chelsea-fare), Nicholas has few doubts over City sealing their qualification for the knockout stages tonight – but insists there are still issues in defence for Pep Guardiola to deal with.

He said: “I feel there are still problems at the back for City. You could see that against Chelsea, but what a fabulous game of football.

“I have gone with 3-1 because there are still some frailties at the back. City could play Claudio Bravo as Ederson looked a tad rusty against Chelsea, so it could give him a bit more time to recover.”

Having also sat out the international period for [Brazil](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/ederson/nationalmannschaft/spieler/238223), it would be no surprise if Ederson was not up to scratch at the weekend – not least against a team that went into the game at the Etihad Stadium above City in the [table](https://www.skysports.com/premier-league-table).

With just [six shots on target](https://www.whoscored.com/Matches/1376027/MatchReport/England-Premier-League-2019-2020-Manchester-City-Chelsea) out of a combined 26 between the two sides, both ‘keepers on Saturday evening were largely untroubled, so Ederson’s tally of a [single save](https://www.whoscored.com/Matches/1376027/Live/England-Premier-League-2019-2020-Manchester-City-Chelsea) is by no means a reflection of a sub-standard performance.

Though having been out for an extended period of time, perhaps a run of games is what Ederson needs right now – and with City yet to assure themselves of a place in the next round, there are still plenty of reasons to play Ederson against Shakhtar, as they look to seal top spot in [Group C](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/champions-league/table).

Meanwhile, Nicholas’ assertion that there are problems at the back would surely mean that playing their first-choice goalkeeper would help to solidify a so-called second-rate defence.

\[freshpress-poll id=”250035″\]

***City fans, is there any reason to rest Ederson tonight? Let us know in the comments below!***