Kevin De Bruyne absent as Manchester City receive triple first-team fitness update

Pep Guardiola and Manchester City have received a triple fitness update ahead of their Premier League clash with Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday night.

City will be looking to bounce back from consecutive defeats across the Carabao Cup and Premier League last week, as their quarter-final exit at the hands of Southampton was followed by Derby Day heartache in a 2-1 defeat to Manchester United.

The latter result left Manchester City eight points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal at the top of the English top-flight, with Pep Guardiola and his players still yet to face off against Mikel Arteta’s side this season.

Ahead of their next game against Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday night, City have received a mixed bag of first-team fitness updates, including an absence in training for Kevin De Bruyne.

The Belgian midfielder was the assist provider for City’s last Premier League outing against Manchester United, as his cross was headed home by Jack Grealish to give them the lead – ultimately one that was cancelled out by a late, quick-fire come back from Erik ten Hag’s men.

Elsewhere, John Stones and Ruben Dias provided the City defence with a much-needed boost, as both players returned to first-team training at the City Football Academy following respective injury problem.

The Portugal international centre-back has been ruled out for a number of weeks through a muscular injury sustained at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, and his leadership in defence will be a much-needed boost to a back-line that has been found under fire following disappointing results.

Manchester City’s January schedule does not get any easier after the clash against Tottenham this week, with an FA Cup fourth round tie against Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal also on the cards just days after.