Manchester City have not included defender Kyle Walker in their squad for tonight's Premier League clash with Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium.
The 34-year-old did not feature in the Citizens' 8-0 victory over Salford City in the FA Cup last weekend, with Pep Guardiola confirming after the match that he has asked to leave the club.
Walker, who has been linked with a move to Italy, has subsequently not travelled with the Man City squad to the capital, while Guardiola has made a total of eight changes to the side that beat Salford three days ago.
Nathan Ake, Matheus Nunes and Savinho are the only three players to retain starting spots, while Ederson, Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, Nico O'Reilly, Ilkay Gundogan, Jack Grealish, Jeremy Doku, Divin Mubama and James McAtee, the latter of whom scored a hat-trick against Salford, all take their places on the substitutes' bench.
Goalkeeper Stefan Ortega is recalled and is handed his fifth consecutive PL start, while Nunes is set to continue as a makeshift right-back, joining Ake, Manuel Akanji and Josko Gvardiol in the back four.
Tonight's captain Kevin De Bruyne will partner Mateo Kovacic in centre-midfield, while Savinho, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden - who scored three goals in a 3-1 win at Brentford last season - will provide support in attack for central striker Erling Haaland.
© Imago
Frank makes seven changes to Brentford XI
As for Brentford, Thomas Frank has made a total of seven changes to the Bees team that suffered a surprise 1-0 defeat at home to Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup last weekend.
Mark Flekken replaces Hakon Valdimarsson in goal, while Nathan Collins and Keane Lewis-Potter are set to join Mads Roerslev and Sepp Van den Berg in what could well be a four-man defence.
Vitaly Janelt could operate at left-back if Lewis-Potter is pushed forward, though, or he may instead play alongside Christian Norgaard, Mathias Jensen and Mikkel Damsgaard in centre-midfield.
Damsgaard, who has seven PL assists this season, is expected to regularly link up with attacking duo Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo, the latter of whom has netted a team-high 13 PL goals in 20 games this term.
Brentford starting lineup: Flekken; Roerslev, Van den Berg, Collins, Lewis-Potter; Norgaard, Janelt, Jensen; Damsgaard; Wissa, Mbeumo
Subs: Valdimarsson, Yarmoliuk, Henry, Mee, Konak, Maghoma, Kim, Carvalho, Schade
Manchester City starting lineup: Ortega; Nunes, Akanji, Ake, Gvardiol; Kovacic, De Bruyne; Bernardo, Foden, Savinho; Haaland
Subs: Ederson, Grealish, Doku, Gundogan, Simpson-Pusey, Mubama, O'Reilly, Lewis, McAtee
Oliver Thomas
