Pep Guardiola faces tough Kevin De Bruyne call ahead of Man City vs Watford

Kevin De Bruyne is proving indispensable in this Manchester City challenge for Premier League and Champions League honours, but the question is about when he can be safely rested to keep him fresh for the challenges ahead. This would seem an ideal opportunity, against a struggling Watford side, especially with the Real Madrid clash just three days later.

The problem is that Bernardo Silva, who probably needs to play if De Bruyne does not, has also played a huge amount of minutes lately - the solution could be for those two to share the burden, each playing a partial game

Pep Guardiola is reluctant to thrust young players into the tension of end–of-season battles, but the progress made by Cole Palmer this season, and the distinct possibility that this game could be won long before the end, means the Wythenshawe kid could make his comeback after a long injury lay-off. He returned to the squad against Brighton but the difficult nature of that game made it impossible to hand him any minutes off the bench. This could be different, especially with several regulars needing a rest.

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Ruben Dias played 45 minutes against Brighton and gave everyone a reminder of why he was City’s first-choice centre-back last season with a display that gave Brighton no sniff of getting back into the game. That appearance was hastened by an injury to Nathan Ake, but Guardiola had talked about giving Dias minutes anyway.

With Real Madrid, and Karim Benzema, just a few days away, Guardiola will be seeking to step that up, possibly giving Dias a start.

Since the takeover, City have played Watford 14 times in all competitions, and have a 100 per cent record in those games. They have scored 53 times and