Kevin De Bruyne can finally show what Man City teammates have noticed

Manchester City take on Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup in the first of just three matches for them in January.

Pep Guardiola's side are without their hat-trick hero from last year's semi-final in Riyad Mahrez and their matchwinner from the final in Ilkay Gundogan, but they'll be hoping to welcome back Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne, and Jeremy Doku as they begin their defence of the trophy. The trio have been significant absences through injury but are all back in training in time for the second half of the season.

City have had to deal with a sickness bug in their camp this week though, while Rodri has been in Madrid following the death of his grandmother. As the Blues look to provide more magic in the FA Cup, here are some of the talking points.

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Jurgen Klopp said that the country was shaking at De Bruyne's return and Neil Warnock said he had never seen a stadium get to their feet to applaud a man warming up. However much Guardiola tries to keep a lid on De Bruyne's return with realistic warnings about the player's fitness after so long out, everyone is waiting for De Bruyne to be back.

That includes his City teammates, especially after what they have seen from him in training. De Bruyne has been moving through the gears over the last few weeks and has made an impression.

"I don’t have to explain how important he is for us," said Nathan Ake. "He’s been training the last few weeks and he’s been looking very good. It will be good to see him on the pitch soon. He’s a massive player for us.”

Kalvin Phillips has had pretty wretched timing since his move to City 18 months ago, although illness may