Manchester City vs. Swansea: How the Citizens Should Line Up in EPL Game

Being an American means being able to say the following sentence emphatically. The best part about the past two international breaks is that they are over.

Premier League followers will similarly welcome the lengthier return of league play, with the next break in the action set for March 2015. For Manchester City supporters, though, there is an open question as to what City will have left to play for by then.

Two more weeks away did nothing for City's dire Champions League plight, nor did it bring Manuel Pellegrini's side any closer to Chelsea or Southampton in the Premier League title race.

What it did was provide some opportunities for players who would have been better served staying quiet and being thought fools to instead start talking and remove all doubt.

Scott Sinclair (remember him?) is singing a sad song about his decision to join City. "I made the decision to come to City and fight it out with all the big players and it hasn't really worked out this far," Sinclair told Carl Markham of the Press Association according to the Daily Mail.

It's too bad Sinclair can't play basketball. He could have been one of Jalen Rose's "Keep Gettin' Dem Checks" All-Stars.

Fernando, who you cannot forget since he will not go away, unnecessarily provided Jose Mourinho with bulletin-board fodder with what can only be considered wishful thinking. "Chelsea is the team that is best placed and playing better, but we know that all teams within the league fluctuate greatly," the midfielder said recently, according to Sky Sports.

But Fernando, haven't City been pretty much rubbish in the league thus far? "We did not start well, we had some difficulties, but we know that at any time Chelsea will also go through these difficulties and then we have to work to stay as close as possible," he continued.

Oh, well, never mind then. Someone tell Swansea City they're in for it!

Another unfortunate aspect of the latest international break for City was that it was only two weeks and not a month or more, because some of City's most valuable players are still on the mend.

"David Silva and Vincent Kompany are battling to be fit for Manchester City's do-or-die Champions League clash with Bayern Munich on Tuesday," wrote David Anderson in the Mirror recently.

Anderson also noted that Silva "remains a major doubt" for the Bayern match, which all but guarantees he will not be available for City's league tilt with the Swans.

City are also going to have to do without Edin Dzeko against Swansea.

"Dzeko could be out for up to three weeks with a 'very serious calf injury', meaning the Manchester City striker may miss three matches for the champions and not play until next month," wrote Jamie Jackson for The Guardian after Dzeko injured himself in City's draw with Queens Park Rangers.

You know what? Let's hurry up and project a City XI for this match before anyone else gets hurt and we run out of players to choose from.

City's projected XI against Swansea: Joe Hart; Gael Clichy, Eliaquim Mangala, Martin Demichelis, Pablo Zabaleta; Samir Nasri, Fernando, Yaya Toure, Jesus Navas; Stevan Jovetic, Sergio Aguero.