De Bruyne hasn't featured since City's opening-day win at Burnley, while Rodri served a one-game suspension at Aston Villa as the Blues lost their third Premier League match of the campaign. In fact, City's four defeats in all competitions this season have all come when Rodri has been suspended, with their last five defeats all coinciding with Rodri's absence.
But Guardiola insisted that he takes responsibility for how City play without their key men, and that defeat at Aston Villa was not simply because Rodri didn't play.
Regarding De Bruyne, who has been included in the Club World Cup squad but is not expected to play, Guardiola said: "I think he starts to run on the pitch but he didn't train once with us. The World Cup is in two or three weeks, so I don't know. Maybe it's a little bit early, but I don't know.
This story is from the December 09, 2023 edition of Manchester Evening News.
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This story is from the December 09, 2023 edition of Manchester Evening News.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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