Man City lineup vs. Brentford: Predicted XI for Premier League clash as Pep Guardiola makes Rodri decision

Manchester City midfielder Rodri has a strong chance of dropping out of the starting lineup when the Sky Blues battle Brentford in the Premier League on Sunday.

The Spain international shook off a knee concern to start against Monaco in the Champions League in midweek, and he came through 61 minutes of that 2-2 draw unscathed.

However, owing to his year-long injury woes and the presence of a fully-fit Nico Gonzalez, Rodri will surely make way for his compatriot as Guardiola errs on the side of caution with the former Ballon d'Or winner.

Gonzalez for Rodri is one of a handful of alterations that the City boss ought to consider for Sunday afternoon, where Savinho could also step in for Bernardo Silva, purely for the sake of fresh legs amid a packed schedule.

Phil Foden should be retained, though, as the 25-year-old aims to build on a stellar record of seven Premier League goals against Brentford after being left out of Thomas Tuchel's latest England squad.

Foden, Tijjani Reijnders and Jeremy Doku will offer familiar support to Erling Haaland, whose brace against Monaco took the Norway international to an exceptional 11 goals from just eight appearances this season.

Further back, a refreshed Matheus Nunes could return to the right-hand side of the backline, shifting John Stones into a central role as Ruben Dias is granted a hard-earned rest.

Omar Marmoush (knee), Rayan Cherki (thigh), Abdukodir Khusanov (ankle) and Rayan Ait-Nouri (unspecified) are all expected to sit out this contest.

Manchester City possible starting lineup:

Donnarumma; Nunes, Stones, Gvardiol, O'Reilly; Gonzalez; Savinho, Foden, Reijnders, Doku; Haaland

> Click here to see how Brentford could line up for this game