Lewis and Bobb start in City possible FA Cup line-up vs Luton

Manchester City will be going in search of a third successive victory when they face Luton Town in the fifth round of the FA Cup at Kenilworth Road on Tuesday night.

City, who have already beaten the Hatters at Kenilworth Road this season, coming from behind to win 2-1 in November's Premier League meeting, moved to within a point of the top of the table on Saturday, beating Bournemouth 1-0 at the Vitality Stadium. Phil Foden netted the only goal of the contest to seal a second successive win by the same scoreline for the Blues.

However, City will put their Premier League title defence to one side when they face Rob Edwards' side, who recently gave Manchester United a run for their money. City, too, will be looking to maintain their hopes of defending their FA Cup crown.

Ahead of the trip south, manager Pep Guardiola, speaking to the media on Monday lunchtime, shared nothing but positivity on the injury front, confirming Jack Grealish is in contention to feature against the Hatters and that Josko Gvardiol is on the cusp of a comeback. It means he could soon have a full-strength squad to pick from.

However, with such important clashes with United and Liverpool, plus the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tussle against FC Copenhagen, on the horizon, Guardiola will be forgiven for mixing things up against Luton. Goalkeeper Stefan Ortega is likely to get the nod in goal, just as he has in each of the two previous rounds of the FA Cup.

The German started each of City's six games in the competition on their way to lifting the trophy last season and kept clean sheets in the earlier rounds against Huddersfield Town and Tottenham Hotspur this season. The 31-year-old's last appearance was against Spurs on January 26.

As for the defensive line in front of him, Kyle Walker is likely to return at right-back after being handed a rest at the weekend. The former Tottenham man watched the action unfold from the comfort of the Vitality Stadium bench.

As for the rest of the back-four, Nathan Ake is likely to start at left-back once again with Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji starting alongside each other in the centre. With such an important crop of fixtures coming up, John Stones is not worth risking.

In midfield, City need to try and restore the level of control that has been missing in recent weeks. That means Mateo Kovacic could start in a deeper midfield role alongside Rico Lewis, granting Rodri a rare rest.

Continuing with the trend of midfield changes, Matheus Nunes could move into a central position and operate at the tip of the midfield diamond. Though that midfield three would not represent City's strongest, it should still be good enough to get the better of Luton.

As for the front three, Guardiola may decide to take no chances on both Erling Haaland and Foden ahead of such a key run of games. Julian Alvarez, after starting on the bench at the weekend, could be restored to the starting XI.

If that happens, Oscar Bobb and Bernardo Silva could support him from the wide areas. The former has started each of City's opening two FA Cup outings this term.