Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola is keeping his fingers crossed over Nico Gonzalez's availability for Sunday's Premier League battle with Aston Villa at Villa Park.
The Spanish midfielder was forced off the pitch in the 57th minute ofTuesday's 2-0 Champions League win over Villarrealwith a foot injury, one that sparked serious concern given Rodri is already missing with a thigh problem.
Guardiola conceded before the Villarreal fixture that Rodri would be unlikely to take part on Sunday, but there is hope that Gonzalez has not sustained anything more severe than a knock, and he ought to be fine to start in the West Midlands.
The former Porto man can therefore be expected to take his place at the base of the midfield in City's 4-1-4-1 setup, most likely shielding an untouched backline as Guardiola saves some changes for the EFL Cup contest with Swansea City.
However, the Catalan coach should not shy away from altering his attacking lineup, and one beneficiary could be Rayan Cherki, who should be in line for his first start since recovering from a thigh injury.
Phil Foden and Tijjani Reijnders will also eye returns to the first XI over Bernardo Silva and Rico Lewis respectively, but Jeremy Doku will likely be retained on the left.
An absolute certainty in the starting XI, Erling Haaland is bidding to find the net for the 10th game running for Man City, as well as becoming just the second Citizens player to score in six consecutive Premier League away matches after Sergio Aguero in 2017.
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Donnarumma; Nunes, Stones, Dias, Gvardiol; Gonzalez; Cherki, Foden, Reijnders, Doku; Haaland
> Click here to see how Aston Villa could line up for this game
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