Pep Guardiola has said he does not expect any of the injured Manchester City players to return against Liverpool.
City welcome the current Premier League champions to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday on the back of successive home wins over Bournemouth and Borussia Dortmund.
Man City were beaten home and away by Liverpool in the league last season, failing to score in either game, but can open up a four-point lead over their title rivals with victory at the weekend.
However, Guardiola looks set to choose from almost the same squad that beat Dortmund on Wednesday night to boost their hopes of a top eight finish.
This means the heavyweight showdown is likely to come too soon for Rodri. The influential midfielder returned from injury to play out the closing stages against Bournemouth last weekend, but was not named in the matchday squad for the European tie with Dortmund.
Speaking in the pre-Liverpool press conference on Friday, Guardiola confirmed he is unlikely to take any risks with the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner against Liverpool.
He said: “We have the international break afterwards and you have to find the moment to feel strong and fit and sustain the actions in the game that are so demanding and can sustain it proper to make that step.
“Still, we are in November. The best part of the season is ahead of us and we need him. We are playing without the Ballon d’Or [winner] from two seasons ago, a massively important player for us and we are desperate to have him back.
“Nico [Gonzalez] right now has become a really important and good player.”
Mateo Kovacic is guaranteed to miss out for Man City this weekend as an ankle injury is expected to keep him out of action for the remainder of 2025.
Guardiola can recall Rayan Cherki, Ruben Dias and Bernardo Silva to the City starting XI after the trio were rested against Dortmund, though the former came off the bench to score.
