Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has confirmed that Phil Foden should be available to face Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Sunday.
The 22-year-old has missed the Citizens' last two matches against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Arsenal – the latter in the FA Cup – due to a foot injury.
Guardiola had stated that Foden was "getting better" prior to City's 1-0 win over Arsenal last Friday, but the England international was not deemed fit to feature in the matchday squad.
Nevertheless, Guardiola has since provided a positive update on Foden's fitness ahead of City's challenging contest in North London against Spurs.
Asked at a press conference on Friday if Foden is fit to play on Sunday, Guardiola said: "Yes I think so. He has trained well these last two days."
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Foden made a bright start to the 2022-23 campaign, scoring seven goals and providing three assists in his first 12 appearances for City across all competitions.
However, the attacker was rotated in and out of the starting lineup shortly before the World Cup, and his game time has also been limited since the tournament in Qatar, scoring only once and completing the full 90 minutes in just two of the last 10 games in all tournaments.
While Foden will hope to recapture his form in front of goal this weekend, the Citizens will have to cope without the services of defender John Stones, who could be facing up to a month on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.
The 28-year-old pulled up in the first half of City's FA Cup win over Arsenal, and Guardiola has since delivered an update on when the centre-back may return to first-team action.
"Three weeks, one month [out], more or less," said Guardiola. "Unfortunately, a lot of games. Managers complain about a lot of games. Comes from World Cup. A few weeks he will be back."
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Stones has arguably been City's most consistent performer in defence so far this season, making 18 appearances in all competitions, but Guardiola has plenty of centre-back options who can step in for the Englishman, with Manuel Akanji, Aymeric Laporte, Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake all available for selection.
Ake is more likely to operate at left-back, though, following the surprise departure of Joao Cancelo on deadline day.
The versatile full-back will spend the rest of this season on loan at Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, with Guardiola citing a lack of first-team football since the World Cup for his decision to move to Germany.
Man City head to North London this weekend having failed to score in all four previous visits to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium since its opening in 2019.
However, the Citizens made the net ripple on four occasions against Spurs at the Etihad Stadium last month, coming from two goals down to win 4-2, and the reigning Premier League champions will hope to have more success in front of goal on Sunday as they bid to close down leaders Arsenal in the title race.
City, who currently sit second in the table, could find themselves eight points behind the Gunners before kicking a ball on Sunday if Mikel Arteta's side beat Everton in the lunchtime kickoff on Saturday.
Oliver Thomas
