How Manchester City could line up against Brentford

Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola should not be averse to making a handful of changes for Tuesday's Premier League encounter with Brentford at the Etihad Stadium.

The champions welcome the Bees to their headquarters barely 72 hours after the conclusion of their pulsating battle with Chelsea, where a 1-1 draw saw them lose their grip on the trophy.

Neither Jack Grealish (groin) nor Josko Gvardiol (ankle) were in the squad for the visit of the Blues, and Guardiola does not expect either man to make their first-team comebacks before the end of the month.

Bernardo Silva and Sergio Gomez were also doubts before the contest, but the pair were given the green light to make the bench, and the former replaced Julian Alvarez in the 64th minute for the Citizens' only alteration on the night.

With such limited recuperation time, a fully-fit Silva will no doubt be one of a few players in contention to return to the XI, potentially taking the place of Jeremy Doku on the flank as Phil Foden - scorer of a hat-trick against the Bees earlier this month - reprises his role out wide.

Foden and Silva will no doubt be supplying service to Erling Haaland, who was guilty of an extremely wasteful performance on Saturday, having nine shots and racking up an Expected Goals total of 1.71 without making the net bulge once.

Alvarez's place could be at risk after he lasted just over an hour at the weekend - Matheus Nunes is bidding to earn a recall alongside Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne in the engine room - while the fresh legs of John Stones and Rico Lewis could be utilised at the back.

Kyle Walker and Manuel Akanji will be the most likely candidates to make way for the duo, as Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake continue to form part of Ederson's defensive barrier.

Manchester City possible starting lineup: Ederson; Lewis, Dias, Stones, Ake; Rodri, Nunes; Silva, De Bruyne, Foden; Haaland