Manchester City are likely to be without four players for Saturday’s FA Cup final against Crystal Palace at Wembley Stadium.
Rodri has returned to training and is making positive progress in his recovery from a long-term knee injury. The same can be said for Nathan Ake (foot) and Oscar Bobb (hamstring), who have returned to partial training, but this weekend’s contest is set to come too soon for all three players as well as John Stones (thigh).
Pep Guardiola made five changes to his starting lineup for last weekend’s frustrating 0-0 draw with Southampton in the Premier League, with Rico Lewis and Manuel Akanji returning in defence at the expense of Nico O’Reilly and Matheus Nunes.
However, Guardiola could be tempted to recall both O’Reilly and Nunes to play as makeshift full-backs, the former of whom has been City’s breakout star in the FA Cup having contributed with three goals and two assists in five appearances – only Exeter City’s Josh Magennis (six) has had a hand in more goals in the competition proper this term.
The return of O’Reilly would likely see Josko Gvardiol move back into central defence alongside Ruben Dias, while Guardiola will weigh up whether to stick with first-choice goalkeeper Ederson or hand Stefan Ortega a start between the sticks.
Kevin De Bruyne watched on as an unused substitute as Man City beat Nottingham Forest 2-0 in the FA Cup semi-finals three weeks ago, but the soon-to-be-departing club legend is likely to start as captain this time around, while Mateo Kovacic, Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva and Nico Gonzalez all battle for a start alongside the Belgian in midfield.
Phil Foden and James McAtee will both be hoping to retain their places in the first XI, but after struggling to create chances in wide areas against Southampton, Guardiola could recall Jeremy Doku and Omar Marmoush to start on the flanks, while Savinho and Jack Grealish are two other wingers in contention to feature in some capacity.
One player who is seemingly destined to start up front in top scorer Erling Haaland, who has netted 30 goals in 41 appearances across all competitions this season, but he has failed to score in any of his five Wembley appearances for City, with three of those coming in the FA Cup.
Manchester City possible starting lineup: Ederson; Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly; Kovacic, Bernardo; Doku, De Bruyne, Marmoush; Haaland
> Click here to see how Crystal Palace could line up for this contest
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