Manchester City are set to be without at least five players for Saturday's Premier League clash with Brighton & Hove Albion at the Amex Stadium.
Rodri (ACL) and Oscar Bobb (leg fracture) remain long-term absentees, while Ruben Dias, John Stones (both unspecified) and Jack Grealish (groin) are also nursing problems. Both Dias and Stones will target a return after the international break, while Grealish has surprising been called up to the England squad.
The Citizens suffered a heavy 4-1 defeat at Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League on Tuesday - their third successive loss in all competitions - but Pep Guardiola's depleted squad was boosted by the return of Kevin De Bruyne, who came on for the final seven minutes plus stoppage time after missing the previous 10 games with a groin injury.
De Bruyne is seemingly unlikely to start on Saturday as he continues to build up his fitness, but the playmaker could make another appearance off the bench, while Mateo Kovacic, Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden are all in contention to start in centre-midfield.
Guardiola will weigh up whether to start Kyle Walker or Rico Lewis at right-back. The latter played the full 90 minutes on Tuesday and was recalled to replace the former who endured a difficult afternoon in the 2-1 defeat at Bournemouth last weekend.
Jahmai Simpson-Pusey was handed his first senior start for Man City on Tuesday and the 19-year-old will be hoping to retain his place at centre-back alongside Manuel Akanji. However, Nathan Ake is expected to be recalled, while Josko Gvardiol is poised to continue on the left side of defence.
Erling Haaland, who missed a penalty in midweek, has scored just one goal in his last five league games, but he is still expected to lead the line against Brighton, while Jeremy Doku could be recalled to start on either flank at the expense of either Savinho or Matheus Nunes.
Manchester City possible starting lineup: Ederson; Walker, Akanji, Ake, Gvardiol; Kovacic, Gundogan; Savinho, Foden, Doku; Haaland
> Click here to see how Brighton & Hove Albion could line up for this contest
Oliver Thomas
