Man City team news: Pep Guardiola reveals Erling Haaland & Kevin de Bruyne update

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has provided a fitness update ahead of the weekend trip to Crystal Palace on Saturday lunchtime.

But the City manager was giving little away regarding whether Erling Haaland and Kevin de Bruyne will start the game - with the return of Champions League football and Real Madrid to follow next week. Title-chasing City are heading into a key few weeks in the battle for honours this campaign.

City head into the Palace game on the back of the midweek victory over Aston Villa, the pair were unused substitutes in midweek. City could welcome back goalkeeper Ederson but defenders Kyle Walker and Nathan Ake are expected to miss out. When asked about Haaland and De Bruyne returning, Guardiola said: “I don’t know yet. Playing at 12:30pm and playing two days ago, I have to think. There are so many games.

“We play less than two and a half days after our last game. Some players recover quicker than others. A long week is completely different but a short week, you have to talk with doctors, physios and staff. We are used to playing every three days over many months and months. For many, many years it has happened that way.

“We play 12:30pm, it’s perfect. More time to recover for the next game in Madrid. We then play on Saturday against Chelsea in the FA Cup afterwards, it’s not fair but we are going to do it. We take one game at a time and don’t give up. We are not new to European competitions so the players know how to handle it, not all the time but most of the time.”