Manchester City will be without defender Ruben Dias for Wednesday night's EFL Cup quarter-final tie against Southampton at St Mary's due to injury.
The 25-year-old is yet to play for the Citizens since the restart after sustaining a hamstring problem while representing Portugal at the 2022 World Cup.
Pep Guardiola still has four other centre-back options at his disposal, though, including Aymeric Laporte who recovered from a minor back issue to start in City's 4-0 FA Cup third-round win over Chelsea on Sunday.
Laporte and Manuel Akanji will both be hoping to retain their places at the heart of the defence, but they face competition from John Stones and Nathan Ake, who both watched on as unused substitutes at the weekend.
Indeed, Guardiola was able to rest a number of his star names on Sunday, including Erling Braut Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne and captain Ilkay Gundogan, and with a Premier League Manchester derby coming up on Saturday, the Spanish boss may contemplate giving some of his key players further rest ahead of that important fixture.
Jack Grealish was not involved in the FA Cup victory over Chelsea due to illness, but he is expected to return to the matchday squad on Wednesday and could start on the left flank ahead of Phil Foden.
In-form winger Riyad Mahrez, who has scored six goals in his last seven appearances, has also found the net four times in his last four EFL Cup games, and the Algerian is poised to keep his place on the right side of attack.
Stefan Ortega could continue between the sticks ahead of first-choice goalkeeper Ederson, while the likes of Rico Lewis and Kalvin Phillips may be given minutes from the start, with Kyle Walker and Rodri potentially making way as a result.
Manchester City possible starting lineup: Ortega; Lewis, Stones, Akanji, Ake; De Bruyne, Phillips, Gundogan; Mahrez, Alvarez, Grealish
Oliver Thomas
