Early team news: Aymeric Laporte returns to Man City squad vs Chelsea (Emirates FA Cup third round)

Aymeric Laporte has returned to the Manchester City matchday squad to face Chelsea on Sunday afternoon after recovering from an injury, according to sources ahead of the official team news release.

Manchester City take on Chelsea for the second time in a week, after the two sides met on Thursday night in a Premier League clash that saw Pep Guardiola’s side come away from Stamford Bridge will all three points.

This time, the two sides meet in the Emirates FA Cup third round – the second cup competition that they have met in this season, after their clash at the same stage in the Carabao Cup back in October.

Chelsea will likely see this as their best chance at silverware this season, but the threat of an early exit to the reigning Premier League champions is a great one, and one that poses a major concern to their trophy ambitions this campaign.

As for Manchester City, they continue to fight on all four fronts this season, with a Carabao Cup quarter-final tie against Southampton coming up on Wednesday night, and a Premier League title race predominantly with Arsenal still ongoing – all complimented by another Champions League knock-out stage adventure on the cards in the coming weeks.

Ahead of the official release of team news at the Etihad Stadium, pieces of information concerning how Pep Guardiola could line-up his side has began to emerge across social media.

According to one source, Aymeric Laporte is part of the Manchester City matchday squad that will take on Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium after recovering from an injury that kept him out of the last few games.

Whether or not Laporte starts for the Premier League champions, that remains unknown at this stage, with confirmed team news still pending.

Additional reporting reveals that Erling Haaland misses out on the starting eleven against Chelsea on Sunday afternoon, presumably with a view towards the Carabao Cup quarter-final tie against Southampton and next weekend’s Manchester derby at Old Trafford.

A further source also reveals that Jack Grealish and Kevin De Bruyne have both been granted rest by Pep Guardiola, with neither player starting for City against Chelsea.

Pep Guardiola and Graham Potter will release their respective Manchester City and Chelsea starting line-ups from 15:30 (UK).

Now official: