These are your Manchester City evening headlines for Saturday, December 17
Klopp hints at Virgil van Dijk absence for Man City Carabao Cup tie
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has suggested that Virgil van Dijk is unlikely to feature against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup clash next week.
The German did claim that both Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jordan Henderson could be available for selection, with the England pair having been 'unofficially' training in Dubai following the Three Lions' World Cup defeat to France. City welcome the Merseyside club to the Etihad Stadium on Thursday for the Round of 16 clash.
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Van Dijk, who was linked with a move to City prior to joining Liverpool, was knocked out of the tournament in Qatar after the Netherlands lost on penalties to Argentina at the quarter-final stage. The Dutchman has come up against the Blues on 16 occasions in his career, winning seven times.
Man City might be about to get the best version of Kevin De Bruyne
Kevin De Bruyne has never been very good at concealing his emotions, which has been an issue this season. The Manchester City playmaker is a heart-on-the-sleeve player but so far this season frustration has been his overwhelming feeling.
He has bubbled away for the Blues without ever quite hitting top form in the first 22 games of a disrupted campaign. Even when he's looked like returning to his best there have been rebukes from Pep Guardiola, who has said on a couple of occasions that De Bruyne can do more. Of that, there is no doubt.
If the World Cup was supposed to provide a sanctuary, a chance to reset, then it all went badly wrong. Belgium crashed out in the group stage and De Bruyne was at the heart of an acrimonious split in the group, with his interview that appeared between group stage games casting the squad as "too old" to win the tournament proving prophetic, but also disappointing to teammates.
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