Manchester City could welcome back John Stones for Friday night’s FA Cup encounter against Tottenham Hotspur.
Both sides have enjoyed a two-week break, with City last in action on 13 January when they came from a goal down to beat Newcastle United in the Premier League. The FA Cup holders returned from a warm-weather in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, with John Stones and Erling Haaland both seen in training during their mid-season hiatus.
But the latter, who hasn’t played since 6 December, won't be available, Pep Guardiola confirmed in Friday's press conference. Haaland is continuing to recover from a foot injury that has ruled him out of the last nine matches, while Guardiola also revealed Manuel Akanji will remain on the sidelines due to injury.
On the other hand, the City boss will have be able to select Stones for the first time in nearly a month, with the England international recovering from a knock that ruled him out for around a month.
Guardiola has remarkably lost on all five occasions he has visited Spurs’ new ground and will hope to end that run on Friday in the fourth-round encounter. The City boss has been buoyed by the return of Kevin De Bruyne over the last two games and, with several weeks’ of training under his belt, might be handed a first start on Friday.
The Belgian came off the bench to provide a goal and assist to transform the game against Newcastle and has looked excellent since his reintegration into the team. But one midfielder who won't be involved is Kalvin Phillips ,as he moves closer to a loan move to West Ham United.
With a two-week break and a relatively kind fixture in midweek against Burnley, City are expected to name a strong XI at Tottenham. Here’s how we think they’ll line up for the fourth-round tie…
1. GK: Stefan Ortega
Played in the last FA Cup game and is likely to start in place of Ederson on Friday.
2. RB: Kyle Walker
Struggled at Newcastle and will hope to perform better against his former side.
3. CB: Ruben Dias
Had a tough afternoon when the sides last met in early December.
4. CB: Nathan Ake
Should play alongside Dias, especially with Akanji out and Stones likely to start on the bench.