Enzo Maresca admitted he is undecided on whether to hand Phil Foden an immediate starting recall against Ipswich Town this weekend after the 26-year-old's three-game suspension.
Phil Foden is in line to make a return for Manchester City against Ipswich Town on Saturday.More Videos
Foden was sent off against Manchester United four weeks ago when he kicked out at Bruno Fernandes at Old Trafford, and was forced to miss important, but ultimately successful, fixtures against Norwich City, Sunderland, and Liverpool.
Manchester City won all of those before having an eight-game winning run halted by the back-to-back UEFA Champions League champions Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday.
Desire Doue, Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele, and Vitinha all scored to cast an image of brutality at the Etihad Stadium, during a first half where Pep Guardiola looked visibly dissatisfied on his return to east Manchester.
Erling Haaland pulled two goals back in a much better second half, but following Maghnes Akliouche’s fortunate strike rolling in on either side of the striker’s brace, PSG walked away 4-2 winners, a result that Luis Enrique described as "lucky" shortly after full-time.
Maresca to decide on Man City line-up against Ipswich Town just hours before kick-off
Foden was an unused substitute at the Etihad on Wednesday, but could play his first minutes for Manchester City since being red-carded as Maresca’s side looks to return to winning ways against Ipswich.
Speaking ahead of his meeting with the Tractor Boys, Maresca admitted he was undecided on whether to play Foden, but revealed that the attacking midfielder is training well and is available for selection.
"Just try to work with him day by day. During the international break, the red card against [Manchester] United has been quite long, but he's training well, doing well since we started, very positive, very good. And we'll see tomorrow,” he said.
On the prospect of him starting, Maresca added: “He's available, but we have so many games that we'll decide if he's going to start or not. But no doubt he's going to give us something.”
Records up for grabs and the chance for Maresca to rotate squad
With a win against Ipswich this weekend, Maresca would become the first manager in Premier League history to start a new campaign with seven straight victories.
In addition, the Citizens could become just the third team to achieve such a feat after Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea in 2005/06 and Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool in 2019/20. Unironically, both sides went on to win the league that season.
The last time Manchester City faced Ipswich at the Etihad, they won 4-1 courtesy of a Haaland hat-trick, supplemented by an early goal from Kevin De Bruyne.
Meanwhile, Ipswich will be hoping to end a 26-year wait to defeat City away from home - their last win coming in December 2000 at Maine Road.
Saturday’s match not only features the prospect of breaking records, but it also provides Maresca the opportunity to rotate his squad and rest some of his busiest talents.
The likes of Ayyoub Bouaddi, Iliman Ndiaye and Allan Elias could find more minutes this weekend and beyond, while Haaland, Elliot Anderson and Enzo Fernandez may be rested intermittently.