Manchester City make the short journey to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United in the EFL Cup on Wednesday evening, but will be without injured duo Kevin De Bruyne and Pablo Zabaleta.
Injured duo to miss trip, yet Kompany could return
De Bruyne, who has been instrumental for City this season, picked up “a big knock on the leg” according to manager Pep Guardiola, with the Spaniard looking to make changes to the side that drew 1-1 with Southampton last time out.
The Catalan boss said: “Kevin cannot play. No way. He had a big knock in the leg. Hopefully he can play against West Brom but I don’t know.”
Guardiola also revealed that Argentinian defender Zabaleta will also miss out on the match with rivals United after also picking up an injury.
On the plus side for the blues Vincent Kompany could be fit, and may start depending on how he comes through the City pre-match training session. The Belgian is looking to put a consistent run of games together after suffering a torrid couple of seasons on the injury front.
Rotation for City
As seen on Tuesday night during Liverpool’s victory over Tottenham Hotspur in the same competition, the two Manchester clubs are likely to rotate massively in order to contend with an intense fixture schedule.
Guardiola continued: “We are going to rotate. Some that haven’t played are going to play, sure, firstly they deserve it but also because there have been some tough games recently. People are tired.”
The City boss also hinted that youngsters Pablo Maffeo and Aleix Garcia could appear against Mourinho’s men, as Guardiola looks to give them an opportunity to impress in the City first team.
“Maffeo and Garcia are with us and I am so happy about that.” Guardiola said: “It is not easy when you are training with the first team but playing with the second team, but their attitude has been really good."