Man City team news: Rodri and Ruben Dias passed fit to play Tottenham after injury doubts

Pep Guardiola says Sergio Aguero is also making progress

Mark Critchley
Northern Football Correspondent
Friday 12 February 2021 14:37 GMT
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Manchester City defender Ruben Dias
Manchester City defender Ruben Dias (Getty Images)

Rodri and Ruben Dias are expected to be fit and available for selection ahead of Manchester City’s meeting with Tottenham on Saturday.

Dias has started every Premier League game since his £64.3m signing from Benfica in October but was absent from Wednesday night's FA Cup win over Swansea City with a stomach bug.

Rodri was forced off during the second half of City's 3-1 win at the Liberty Stadium through injury, but both players have since recovered and trained on Friday.

Read more: Manchester City are relentless but they must avoid their usual stumbling block

Pep Guardiola said that Dias and Rodri are both in contention to play against Tottenham, while Sergio Aguero is also making progress.

"Rodri trained quite well, I think he will be ok," the City manager confirmed. "Ruben came back to training. Sergio had second training session with us."

Saturday is likely to come too soon for Aguero, who is returning to fitness after a spell out of contention with Covid-19.

City are also missing Fernandinho, who is nursing a thigh injury, while Nathan Ake and Kevin De Bruyne are long-term absentees.

"Except Fernandinho, Nathan and Kevin, the rest of the first team squad are available," Guardiola added.

City are aiming to win their 16th consecutive game in all competitions, having broken English football's all-time record with their win at Swansea on Wednesday.

Tottenham were the last side to beat City - running out 2-0 winners in north London on 21 November - and Guardiola is looking for an improved display in the reverse fixture.

"We lost because they were better in many aspects than us in that game, the quality showed more often than ours," he said.

"That’s why they beat us, you saw the quality of their players and of course the manager. A strong team and we’ll have to do better tomorrow."

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