Man City Team News: Injuries, suspensions and line-up vs Newcastle
Everything you need to know ahead of the Premier League clash at St James’ Park on Tuesday
Manchester City travel to Newcastle on Tuesday with close to a full squad of players.
Kevin De Bruyne has returned from a lengthy injury while David Silva and Sergio Aguero have shaken off problems that kept them out of action in December.
Benjamin Mendy is returning from knee surgery but his return is being managed carefully and he is very unlikely to start at Newcastle.
Vincent Kompany is ruled out through injury, while Fabian Delph and Oleksandr Zinchenko are doubtful after being deemed not fit enough to be in the squad that beat Burnley at the weekend.
Neither side have any suspensions.
Guardiola could pick close to what many people would consider his strongest XI for the trip to St James’ Park.
Mendy would perhaps feature in most teams but in his absence Danilo seems likely to start, given he has done well in the position in recent weeks.
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There are not too many other contentious spots in the team. Nicolas Otamendi could play at centre-back but Guardiola is expecting a defensive performance from Newcastle and while Salomon Rondon’s aeriel presence is a threat to City, the passing ability of John Stones could help facilitate City’s build-up play, alongside the almost ever-present Aymeric Laporte.
De Bruyne and David Silva are generally considered City’s best options as No.8’s and although Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva have deputised well for one or the other this season, it is likely that last season’s first-choice pairing will be started.
And while Gabriel Jesus has done well of late, the fact that Sergio Aguero was on the bench at the weekend suggests he was being kept fresh. That also goes for Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling, who seem good bets to return to the XI.
Rafa Benitez has a few injury worries to contend with for the visit of the champions.
“The midfielders are very close, but not ready for this game so it’s more or less the same [squad],” he said in his press conference on Monday, confirming that Jonjo Shelvey (thigh) and Mo Diame (hip) will miss out. Ki Seung-Yung returned from the Asian Cup with a hamstring strain and will also miss out.
Joselu is on the sidelines with a hamstring injury picked up against Watford in the FA Cup at the weekend, and the game comes too soon for Karl Darlow (elbow) and Paul Dummett (hamstring).
Kick off is 20:00 GMT (15:00 ET) on Tuesday, and will be shown on BT Sport in the United Kingdom. It will be shown on NBC in the United States, and on various channels around the world.