Manchester City's options to face Liverpool in the Carabao Cup have been boosted as three defensive options have returned to training following the World Cup.
City are set to field a makeshift XI against Liverpool on Thursday, made up of players who didn't qualify for the World Cup, youngsters, and those who exited Qatar 2022 early. Belgium's Kevin De Bruyne and Germany midfielder Ilkay Gundogan should play after their group-stage exits and friendly appearances vs Girona at the weekend.
Now, three players knocked out in the early part of the knockout stages have returned to training, although City's five England representatives are yet to come back to the Etihad Campus and are unlikely to face Liverpool.
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Netherlands defender Nathan Ake, who started every game for his country until their quarter-final exit to Argentina, is back at the City Football Academy, along with Switzerland centre-back Manuel Akanji.
Switzerland were well beaten by Portugal in the last 16, although he did score their only goal in the 6-1 defeat. Spain were also surprisingly knocked out by Morocco in the last-16, with Rodri playing centre-back in their four games - and he is now back training ahead of the Liverpool clash.
Rodri partnered City teammate Aymeric Laporte at the back in Qatar, although Laporte didn't appear to be training at City on Tuesday.
The trio may not be rushed back to face Liverpool, although their returns do strengthen City's options for when the Premier League resumes on December 28 at Leeds. City fielded two academy centre-backs - Jadel Katongo and Shea Charles - in the Girona friendly.
Still to return are Ederson, Laporte, Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo, Bernardo Silva, winner Julian Alvarez, and the England players Kyle Walker, John Stones, Kalvin Phillips, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish. Players like Erling Haaland, Riyad Mahrez, Sergio Gomez, Stefan Ortega and Cole Palmer have had some time off and should be in line to face Liverpool.
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