De Bruyne & Mendy could return for Man City at Liverpool
De Bruyne & Mendy could return for Man City at Liverpool

De Bruyne & Mendy could return for Man City at Liverpool

The Belgium midfielder has been out for seven weeks with a knee injury but returned to training on Monday, while the left-back trained on Friday

Kevin De Bruyne is pushing to make a shock return to the Manchester City squad for the game against Liverpool this weekend.

Benjamin Mendy could also be in line for a recall to the team after missing the last month with a bruised metatarsal.

De Bruyne injured knee ligaments in mid-August and was ruled out for between two and three months, but has responded well to treatment and returned to training at the start of this week.

It is understood that City coaches are still cautious about including the midfielder in the match day squad for the game at Anfield, but that he is keen to play as many minutes as possible.

De Bruyne is in line to make his first start after the international break, and it is expected that he will play in a behind-closed-doors friendly in the next fortnight.

Pep Guardiola was evasive when asked whether De Bruyne will be involved any sooner than that, however, revealing only after being asked for a third time that a decision will be made on Saturday.

Asked initially about the 27-year-old’s status, Guardiola replied: “he played today,” and when asked if he would make the squad he said: “he’s training with us, yeah.”

Only when asked for further clarity did the City boss reveal that “we will see tomorrow” whether or not De Bruyne will be involved at Anfield.

Mendy has missed City’s last six games with a foot injury and has angered his coaches with a string of off-field problems in recent weeks, but Guardiola confirmed that the Frenchman returned to training on Friday and is also in contention to return to action this weekend.