How Manchester City could line up against Bayern Munich

Manchester City playmaker Kevin De Bruyne remains an injury doubt ahead of Wednesday's pre-season friendly against Bayern Munich at the National Stadium in Tokyo.

The 31-year-old was forced off with a grade three hamstring tear in the Champions League final triumph over Inter Milan just over six weeks ago, and he watched on as an unused substitute in City's 5-3 friendly win over Yokohama F Marinos on Sunday.

Manager Pep Guardiola has confirmed that De Bruyne is closing in on a return to first-team action, but it remains to be seen whether he will feature on Wednesday or in Seoul for a friendly against Atletico Madrid on Sunday.

Guardiola used 21 different players in the victory over Yokohama F Marinos and the Catalan boss is expected to hand more minutes to the vast majority of his travelling squad on Wednesday, which could see a different lineup fielded in each half.

Goalkeeper Stefan Ortega was the only player who completed the full 90 minutes last time out, so first-choice shot-stopper Ederson could be in for a recall against Bayern, while Joao Cancelo is in contention to face his former club either from the start or as a substitute.

John Stones may continue in his hybrid midfield role alongside either Rodri or Kalvin Phillips, while Bayern-linked Kyle Walker is available for selection, as confirmed by Guardiola, and the defender could line up in a back three with two of Ruben Dias, Manuel Akanji, Nathan Ake or Aymeric Laporte.

Mateo Kovacic was handed his non-competitive debut last weekend and will be pushing to start again in midfield, while Erling Haaland once again showcased his exceptional goalscoring talent with a brace against Yokohama F Marinos and is in line for a start versus Bayern, against whom he scored his first City goal in a pre-season friendly last year.

Cole Palmer, James McAtee, Oscar Bobb, Rico Lewis and Maximo Perrone were all given run-outs in the last match, with the former two handed starts, and all five youngsters could be involved again in some capacity on Wednesday.

Manchester City possible starting lineup: Ederson; Walker, Dias, Laporte; Stones, Rodri; Bernardo, Kovacic, Foden, Grealish; Haaland