Premier League leaders Manchester City return to action this Saturday with one of the toughest fixtures of any season: a trip to The Hawthorns for a meeting with West Bromwich Albion. It’s never, ever, ever easy to face a team managed by Tony Pulis, and we shouldn’t expect anything different.

When you look at the recent history, City have been quite successful against the Baggies, winning the last five league meetings and conceding just two goals. Their latest clash was in the third round of the NOT CARABAO CUP, IT’S LEAGUE CUP last month, and the Blues needed two brilliant goals from Leroy Sané to get the win that night.

Pulis said in his pre-match press conference that he’ll approach this game against City in a different way. He didn’t reveal what his strategy will be, but it’ll be shocking to see him doing anything other than defending deep and looking to frustrate the Blues. If he does decide to press high and attack, it might be a fun game to watch and a score that could make Tony regret approaching this game in a different way.

MATCH INFO, TV/STREAMING

Date/Time: Saturday, October 28, 2017, 3pm (UK & Nigeria), 10am ET, 7am PT (USA), 7:30pm IST (India)

Venue: The Hawthorns, West Bromwich, England

Television: Not Televised (UK), NBCSN (USA), TSN1 (Canada), SuperSport 5 (Nigeria), Hotstar (India)

Online streaming: NBC Sports Live (USA), TSN GO (Canada), FuboTV (7-day free trial, click here to sign up)

(Listings via LiveSoccerTV)

TEAM NEWS

After a tough 120-minute match against Wolverhampton in midweek for the reserves, Pep Guardiola will surely revert back to the team that’s played so well in recent weeks. He’s still without Benjamin Mendy and Vincent Kompany, and Ilkay Gundogan may not be fit for this one, but his biggest stars are available. Ederson, Otamendi, Fabian Delph, Fernandinho and David Silva were not involved against Wolves and will surely be playing against the Baggies.

There’s a Champions League match against Napoli on Wedneday, but Pep will probably go with his strongest possible team given most of them were rested last Tuesday. Players like David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne will be crucial against West Brom thanks to their passing ability, so the fact they’ll be fresh and fit is great news for the team, the coach and the fans.

POSSIBLE LINEUPS

Manchester City (4-3-3)

Ederson; Walker, Stones, Otamendi, Delph; De Bruyne, Fernandinho, Silva; Sterling, Jesus, Sané

West Bromwich (4-3-3)

Foster; Nyom, Hegazi, Evans, Gibbs; Krychowiak, Livermore, Barry; Rodriguez, Rondón, Chadli

PREDICTION

This will be REALLY tough, and it could very well be a shocking result, but I’ll trust City to get the job done: 3-1 to the Blues.