MANCHESTER City manager Pep Guardiola said on Tuesday that he will have to manage without several important players for their home League Cup quarter-final against Brentford.
REUTERS / Peter Powell
Belgian forward Jeremy Doku, who has been performing really well this season, is still out due to a leg injury and missed Sunday's 3-0 Premier League win against Crystal Palace.
Guardiola told reporters, "Sunderland in the New Year maybe (for a potential return on January 1).
We will see."
City will also be without John Stones (thigh injury) and Rodri (hamstring injury) on Wednesday.
Omar Marmoush and Rayan Ait-Nouri are away at the Africa Cup of Nations for international duty.
Guardiola said, "When you are one game away from the semi-finals, if you can take it, take it, because you never know when it's coming back."
James Trafford is expected to start in goal instead of Gianluigi Donnarumma, the recently named FIFA Men's Goalkeeper of the Year 2025.
Guardiola hinted at other possible changes as the team has a busy December schedule with seven matches.
He added, "James is going to play and all the players that didn't play recently are going to play and some from the Academy because three days after that we have West Ham (in a Premier League match on Saturday)."
Guardiola continued, "I'm not saying it's not the priority to get to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup, but normally when we achieve it, it's when we have all the squad, no injuries and we can rotate."
City, who are four-time League Cup winners under Guardiola, are currently pushing Arsenal in the Premier League title race, two points behind the leaders in second place in the table.