Jahmai Simpson-Pusey starts for Manchester City at Sporting CP in the Champions League.
The teenager replaces John Stones in the backline.
Stones played the full 90 minutes of the Carabao Cup tie against Tottenham last week, but didn’t make the matchday squad against Bournemouth due to a foot issue and was not involved in team training on Monday.
“John? I don’t know if he’ll be back for the next two games,” Guardiola said when asked for an update on the England man.
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Stones’ fellow centre-back Ruben Dias will miss the next two games with a muscular injury, while Guardiola revealed at his pre-match press conference that Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake are “still with problems”.
Midfield is where things get interesting as Guardiola has confirmed he won’t be rushing Kevin De Bruyne back after almost two months out, even if there was a more positive update.
Guardiola said on Monday: “Kevin is getting better and adding sessions with less pain so we feel that he feels more and more comfortable. That is excellent news for him and all of us.”
As De Bruyne on the bench, and in the continued absence of Rodri, it could is the trio of Mateo Kovacic, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden who are tasked with gaining control of proceedings in Portugal.
Erling Haaland will lead the line.
Starting Man City XI (4-2-3-1): Ederson, Lewis, Simpson-Pusey, Akanji, Gvardiol, Kovacic, Bernardo, Savinho, Foden, Nunes, Haaland
Subs: Ortega, Carson, Walker, Ake, Doku, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Wright, O’Reilly, McAtee, Wilson-Esbrand
Time and date: 8pm GMT on Tuesday, November 5, 2024.
Venue: Estadio Jose Alvalade
TV channel and live stream: TNT Sports
