Pep Guardiola will assess the condition of his players hours before the Brentford game before deciding how many changes he feels comfortable to make. Manchester City have the tightest turnaround in the league between the next two fixture blocks, with less than 61 hours between them finishing playing at Brentford on December 29 and kicking off at Arsenal on January 1.
Pep Guardiola said: “With this situation, you arrive and go, ‘oh, this player cannot play’ or someone is injured. On the day we are going to see. We’ll pay attention to the quality Brentford have and take a decision. After the Arsenal game we have long weeks. Right now we have, games on the 29th and the 1st – two away fixtures against absolutely difficult, tough opponents. The Premier League is like this. That is why it is the most satisfying competition if you are able to win it. You play against all the big teams in different circumstances and you have to solve it. It will be no exception in the next two games.”