West Ham v Manchester City early injury & team news - 3 doubts & 1 out

Pep Guardiola will hope to welcome two of his key men back into the squad when Manchester City take on West Ham United this weekend.

The champions were without Rodri and Phil Foden in last week’s win over Ipswich Town, but could be options at the London Stadium on Saturday. The former, who hasn't played since the Euro 2024 final on 14 July, was spotted back in City training this week and could be an option against West Ham, even if a start looks unlikely after such a long absence.

Foden wasn’t seen in the training galleries, but may well have been out of shot. He missed the Ipswich game through illness and should hopefully be back to face the Hammers. Goals from Foden and Rodri fired City to a 3-1 victory when the sides last met on the final day of the 2023/24 season, a win that secured a record-breaking fourth top-flight title.

Elsewhere, Mateo Kovacic was also seen back in training this week, easing fears that he sustained a serious injury last weekend. The ex-Chelsea man was replaced in the first five minutes of the second half against Ipswich following a coming together with Liam Delap.

The only player definitely ruled out for the trip to West Ham is Oscar Bobb. The winger suffered a fractured leg in a training session earlier this month and is not expected to feature until the new year.

As for West Ham, Julen Lopetegui has a fully fit squad ahead of Saturday’s game. The former Wolverhampton Wanderers’ boss has named the same XI in the opening two league games and will most likely name a similar team against the champions.

Konstantinos Mavropanos, Emerson Palmieri, Guido Rodriguez, Mohammad Kudus, Lucas Paqueta and Michail Antonio all dropped to the bench for the midweek win over Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup, but should return for the Premier League encounter.