Man City team news: Injuries, suspensions and line-up vs Chelsea

Everything you need to know ahead of the Premier League clash at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday

Pep Guardiola will have close to a strong squad available for Manchester City's game against Chelsea, meaning his line-up could be incredibly difficult to predict.

After the experiment against Arsenal last weekend and the use of Aymeric Laporte at left-back at Everton there could be further tinkering to be done, especially with Kevin De Bruyne likely to come back into the side.

MAN CITY INJURIES
De Bruyne missed out in midweek but that was a fitness/rotation issue rather than injury.

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Benjamin Mendy, however, has not featured in the last three Premier League games despite playing 27 minutes in the Carabao Cup on January 23.

Vincent Kompany is still out, as is Claudio Bravo.

Kevin De Bruyne Manchester City 2018-19

MAN CITY SUSPENSIONS
Neither side have any suspensions.

MAN CITY POTENTIAL STARTING LINE-UP
This one could be anything. Perhaps Guardiola will use Fernandinho as a centre-back/midfielder again or perhaps that was uniquely applicable to Arsenal.

Bernardo Silva seems to start every game at the moment and there is likely to be space for him again, while De Bruyne is also a good bet to play.

Guardiola only picked one of Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane alongside Sergio Aguero in the past two games, but could use more of a traditional front three with two wingers on Sunday. That could also see Gabriel Jesus come in for Aguero.

Man City possible XI

CHELSEA TEAM NEWS
Chelsea have no major injuries to contend with and Guardiola is expecting a very challenging game.

The Catalan is a big admirer of Maurizio Sarri and the fact the Italian has a clear week to prepare his side for the trip to the Etihad Stadium has not gone unnoticed.


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"We started well with Arsenal and Everton but now comes a really, really big test - a big bull," Guardiola said on Wednesday. "Chelsea is an exceptional team with seven days to prepare that game. We will try. We have to prepare well.

"This is a real final for us this weekend. If we are able to take these points, we are going to take a huge step forward."

OPTA MATCH FACTS

Man City have lost three of their last five Premier League matches against Chelsea (W2), scoring just four goals and never more than once in this run.
Chelsea have won on just two of their last nine visits to the Etihad in the Premier League (D1 L6), winning 1-0 in February 2014 and 3-1 in December 2016.
Chelsea are winless in their last six Premier League away games against ‘big six’ opposition (D2 L4), losing the last four in a row.
Manchester City have scored at least twice in each of their last 14 Premier League home games, winning 13 of those (L1). If they score twice here, they’ll set a new competition record for scoring more than once in consecutive home games.
Man City striker Sergio Aguero has scored five goals in his last five Premier League appearances versus Chelsea, including netting a hat-trick in April 2016.
Chelsea’s Eden Hazard has had a hand in five goals in his last five games against Man City in the Premier League (3 goals, 2 assists), with the Belgian assisting both of the Blues’ goals in the reverse fixture this term.

TV COVERAGE & KICK-OFF TIME

Kick off is 16:00 GMT (11 ET) on Sunday, and will be shown on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom. It will be shown on NBC in the United States, and on various channels around the world.