Pep Guardiola names guaranteed Man City starter vs Sporting amid more injury doubts

Pep Guardiola will start Stefan Ortega against Sporting CP as he enjoys the healthy competition for places among his goalkeepers that the rest of his squad is badly lacking at the moment.

Ederson has been one of the standout players for the Blues this season and excelled again at Bournemouth to keep City in the game for large spells and mean they could be in a position where they nearly stole a point at the end of the match. However, he will have to take a seat on the bench in the Champions League with Guardiola keen to reward Ortega again for his loyalty to the Blues and excellent performances whenever he does play.

Elsewhere in the squad, City will be without five first-team stars for the trip to Sporting with neither Ruben Dias nor John Stones recovered from the issues that kept them out of the Bournemouth game. In addition, a number of players are also below their best as they try to play through the pain.

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"Manu [Akanji] and Nathan [Ake] are still with problems," said Guardiola, "Kevin [De Bruyne] is getting better - he's having sessions with less pain so we feel that he feels more comfortable.

"That is excellent news for all of us and Kyle [Walker] as well with problems with his knee since he was with the national team. The rest: [Jeremy] Doku has had a little problems with muscular issues, Savinho is getting better with his ankle, the rest are fine."