Foden decision, Gundogan role - Three ways Man City can lineup vs Arsenal without Kevin De Bruyne

Manchester City may be forced to navigate their biggest game of the season thus far without Kevin De Bruyne due to injury. The Belgium international went off at half time of the Champions League stalemate against Inter after appearing to pick up an adductor issue when taking a shot that was saved by Yann Sommer.

With the incident arriving just before the interval, De Bruyne remained on to see out the first half before he was replaced at the break by Phil Foden. When asked for an update on the 33-year-old, Guardiola refused to rule him out but his verdict was hardly full of optimism.

"He feels a little bit better today but we have not yet had training and we will see," he said in a press conference ahead of the game. "He could be [involved]." Though City have an abundance of options that can replace De Bruyne, his potential absence in a game of such magnitude will be a blow.

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Ilkay Gundogan made his first league start since returning to City over the summer while Foden has played just 90 minutes of football this season. Bernardo Silva is another option that can come into a central position with Mateo Kovacic coming in alongside Rodri a possibility given the strength of Arsenal's squad.

With that said, MEN Sport has taken a look at three ways Guardiola could set up his team, all without De Bruyne, for the visit of Arsenal.

Based on the starting XI named to face Brentford last weekend, Guardiola may prefer to make just two changes. Rodri making his first Premier League start is extremely likely with Foden then coming