Roberto Mancini is set to change his entire Manchester City starting XI from the 1-1 draw with Arsenal for Tuesday night's meeting with Aston Villa in the third round of the League Cup.
City are looking to retain the Premier League crown they won last season as well as aiming to impress in the Champions League, after failing to get out of the group stages in the previous campaign.
And with a tricky-looking trip to in-form Fulham looming on Saturday, Mancini has confirmed that he will bring some youngsters and fringe players into contention for the clash with Villa, who themselves are struggling this season.
 |
|
| MANCHESTER CITY LATEST |
|
| 7/2 | Denis Suarez is 7/2 with Bet365 to score anytime in Man City v Aston Villa |
"We want to win again the championship, that's our target,” Mancini told reporters. "If we win also the League Cup, then okay, but the target should be the championship again.
"We will change all the players if it's possible. We are unlucky with the draw because we always get difficult games.
"We can't play with the same players. We need to recover because afterwards we have another hard game in London."
Young talent such as Denis Suarez, Abdul Razak and Luca Scapuzzi are all in with a chance to impress, whilst the strength of the City squad is highlighted by the likelihood of Mario Balotelli and Carlos Tevez leading the line.
However, one man who will almost certainly not be involved is midfielder David Silva.
The Spain international had a busy summer in winning Euro 2012 with his country, as well as some long-distance away trips in World Cup qualifying, and Mancini believes that the exertion may explain some of his under-par performances so far this season.
"It is difficult for him," the Italian noted. "He's human and probably he's not 100 per cent.
"I don't think he needs a rest but he played the European Championships and afterwards he travelled twice away, once to Puerto Rico, so for this reason he could be not fresh."
