Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is hopeful that Kevin De Bruyne will be available for Saturday's Premier League trip to Bournemouth.
Both De Bruyne and Aymeric Laporte were struck down with a bout of illness earlier in the week and subsequently missed the 1-1 draw away against RB Leipzig in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday.
Guardiola has revealed that De Bruyne could be involved at the Vitality Stadium, but Laporte and John Stones - the latter of whom is still recovering from a hamstring injury - are set to miss out.
Against Leipzig, Guardiola opted to revert back to a more traditional four-man defence, with Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake all protecting Ederson between the sticks. While the Catalan boss could stick with a back four on Saturday, rotation may be on the cards considering defensive changes have been made to the City side in each of the last 12 matches.
In the likely absence of Laporte, fellow left-footed defender Ake could continue in the first XI, while Bernardo Silva may be required to revert back to an interchanging left-back/midfield role should Guardiola start with only three natural defenders.
Ilkay Gundogan and Rodri are set to retain their places in centre-midfield, but should either be handed a rest, Kalvin Phillips could step up and receive just his second start since arriving in the summer, while highly-rated January addition Maximo Perrone is another option, although a start is unlikely.
Phil Foden will push Riyad Mahrez for a place on the right flank, while Jack Grealish is set to continue on the left as Erling Braut Haaland – who has scored more Premier League goals (26) than the entire Bournemouth team (21) so far this season – leads the line; Julian Alvarez will also be pushing to start in attack having watched on as a substitute in each of the last four games.
Manchester City possible starting lineup: Ederson; Walker, Dias, Ake; Rodri, Bernardo; Foden, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Grealish; Haaland
Oliver Thomas
