Kevin De Bruyne and Stefan Ortega could start as Manchester City host Nottingham Forest in the Premier League tonight.
Man City are on a run of seven games without a win across all competitions, with Sunday's 2-0 defeat against Liverpool consigning them to a fourth consecutive league loss.
They also haven't scored in their last two outings in the top-flight and there's massive concerns defensively having conceded 19 goals since keeping their last clean sheet over a month ago against Southampton.
In City's last home fixture they were 3-0 up in the Champions League against Feyenoord but managed to concede three times in 16 minutes to draw the game.
Currently 11 points off the pace in the Premier League title race, it's looking unlikely that the trophy will be heading back to the Etihad Stadium for a fifth straight year.
Although Guardiola has insisted that he saw enough during the loss at Anfield to believe the seven-game winless is about to end.
"I saw how Ruben [Dias] came back. How good Nathan [Ake] controlled [Mohamed] Salah," the Spaniard told reporters. "I want the team back. I want the players back. Three or four players came back [from injury] and the feeling from here is we started to build something.
“From here we’re going to try to build, win games and regain our confidence. Then we are a team and it’s fantastic. I’m sitting here defending what we defend because these players give everything.
"The best years I lived in Manchester, and I have to find a solution to try to win games. If we gave up at Anfield and are not consistent, you go home with a terrible result. The team was there all the time."
While City remain without the likes of Mateo Kovacic, Oscar Bobb and Rodri, the good news for Guardiola is no fresh injuries have been reported after the Liverpool game.
Though Ortega conceded a penalty at Anfield, he may have done enough to retain his place in between the posts ahead of usual No1 Ederson, who made costly errors in the 3-3 draw with Feyenoord. Kyle Walker has struggled defensively this season so could be taken out of the firing line with Rico Lewis starting at right-back.
"Ederson is No1 and Stefan is No2, but maybe Stefan can continue tomorrow and for the next games,” said Guardiola on Tuesday.
De Bruyne could start to add much needed creativity centrally, while Jack Grealish and Jeremy Doku could also come in after substitute appearances against Liverpool, which may see Phil Foden and Matheus Nunes make way.
"He's closer and even better in the last few days”, added the City boss on De Bruyne.
John Stones, however, remains injured.
Predicted Man City XI: Ortega; Lewis, Dias, Akanji, Gvardiol; Silva, Gundogan; Doku, De Bruyne, Grealish; Haaland
Injured: Rodri, Bobb, Kovacic, Sontes
Venue: Etihad Stadium
Time and date: 7:30pm GMT tonight on Wednesday December 4, 2024
TV channel and live stream: Amazon Prime Video
