Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is set to make a late call on whether to select goalkeeper Ederson in his starting lineup for Saturday's Community Shield clash against rivals Manchester United at Wembley Stadium.
Ederson, who has been heavily linked with a move to Saudi Arabia, missed the Citizens' 4-2 friendly win over Chelsea last weekend, with Guardiola stating after the match that the Brazilian was left out due to some "niggles".
However, the 31-year-old has since taken part in training this week and could be fit to start in goal; if not, Stefan Ortega could be given the nod to play between the sticks at Wembley, as he did 12 months ago in Man City's penalty-shootout loss to Arsenal.
Meanwhile, left-back Josh Wilson-Esbrand is set to miss out after coming off against Chelsea with a hamstring injury, while Guardiola has confirmed Euro 2024 finalists Rodri, Phil Foden, Kyle Walker and John Stones will all miss Saturday's contest as they are due to report back to training "next week".
A host of other senior stars have returned to Guardiola's squad this week, though, including Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Jeremy Doku, Ruben Dias, Manuel Akanji, Matheus Nunes and summer signing Savio, who could all be involved in some capacity on Saturday.
Erling Haaland was suffering with a minor muscle issue towards the end of last month, but he was fit to start and score a hat-trick in City's friendly win over Chelsea last time out, and the Norwegian striker is expected to lead the line once again.
Manchester City possible starting lineup: Ortega; Lewis, Dias, Akanji, Gvardiol; Kovacic, De Bruyne; Bobb, Bernardo, Grealish; Haaland
> Click here to see how Manchester United could line up for this contest
Oliver Thomas
