Pep Guardiola gives update on Man City duo Kevin De Bruyne & Ederson and hints at Leeds decision

Pep Guardiola has said he will not make a decision on Kevin De Bruyne’s availability to play against Leeds United until after Friday’s training session.

The Manchester City midfielder has missed the last two matches with a minor knock but returned to training on Thursday. City fans are hoping De Bruyne will be available for the visit of Leeds on Saturday, although next week’s crucial trip to Real Madrid in the Champions League is also looming on the horizon.

Asked for the latest on De Bruyne, Guardiola said no decision has been made, before adding a lack of match fitness is unlikely to prevent the 31-year-old from starting on Saturday: “He trained yesterday and he trained good. Today we are going to train and we will decide after training,” he said

“Missing just one week, 10 days, at this stage of the season is not a problem. It is what happened with Nathan [Ake]. If he is fit, he can play.”

Guardiola insisted in his pre-match press conference that he will not rest players this weekend with Tuesday’s clash against Real in mind, but did admit he may have to rotate against Leeds given so many of his players are feeling jaded after a busy recent schedule.

“I am thinking it is a lot of games with a lot of tension,” explained the Catalan. “I have to see today. Yesterday I saw the team [looking] really tired [in training] after the demands of [games against] Fulham and West Ham.

“I have to see how the players recover, again in just three days. My decisions will focus on how they are physically and mentally to play in that game. Then after, Madrid. The Premier League is so nice and it’s so important to go four points in front of Arsenal. It is really important and all the focus is on the game tomorrow.”

Only player who was rested in midweek was Ederson, with back-up goalkeeper Stefan Ortega handed a first Premier League start. However, Guardiola said his first-choice stopper should be fit for the clash against Leeds: “He is ready to play like he was against West Ham. Tomorrow I will decide,” he revealed.