Football
Jonathan Smith, Manchester City correspondent 6y

Sergio Aguero available for Man City after fainting on international duty

MANCHESTER -- Sergio Aguero is "perfect" after his dizzy spell while away with Argentina and will be in the Manchester City squad to face Leicester on Saturday, according to Pep Guardiola.

City boss Guardiola also revealed that Raheem Sterling and Fabian Delph could return after missing out on England's friendlies during the international break.

City will definitely be without defender Nicolas Otamendi against Leicester, due to suspension, and Guardiola said that captain Vincent Kompany, who has not played since August, could be one of a number of options he has to replace him.

Guardiola confirmed that Aguero, 29, has no problems after he was taken to hospital at half-time during Argentina's 4-2 friendly defeat to Nigeria in Russia on Tuesday.

"He arrived two days ago and the doctor says he's perfect," the City boss told a news conference. "He was conscious all the time in Argentina and he's OK. Nothing to be worried about.

"Delph, I don't know if he will be able because in four sessions he trained two. Yesterday he could not train. Hopefully we can recover him because he is so important in that position.

"Raz [Sterling] had big problems in the last period -- he played the last two games with a lot of pain in his back and made a huge effort to play against Napoli and Arsenal -- but he is much, much better and hopefully he can be fit for tomorrow. He is much better than before."

Kompany has returned to training after suffering another calf strain while on international duty with Belgium. But the Leicester game may come too soon for the 31-year-old, and Eliaquim Mangala could make his first Premier League start since May 2016.

"I have something in mind to replace him [Otamendi] because he cannot play," Guardiola said. "We have Mangala, maybe Kompany can come back, we will see. We have other options -- Kyle [Walker] can play centre half, Fernandinho can play in that position, so we have options."

City are eight points clear at the top of the Premier League but Leicester were one of the toughest opponents in Guardiola's first season at the club.

Jamie Vardy scored a hat trick as the Foxes raced into a 4-0 lead at the King Power Stadium before two late goals made the score line look less disastrous.

Guardiola faced criticism after the match when he said he did not coach tackles after City failed to win one in the opening 35 minutes.

Asked what he remembered about last season's game, Guardiola said: "Yeah, for the tackles, I remember that.

"[It was] one of the lowest [points]. It was not easy after three minutes 2-0 down, especially because Leicester is such a complicated team for the way they play with the runs in behind with Vardy, [Shinji] Okazaki who is a fighter, and now Kelechi [Iheanacho].

"They play the way they did when they were champions with Claudio Ranieiri. They attack and in just three or four seconds they create chances. That's why we have to play intelligent. It's one of the toughest games we have, especially after the international break. It's so important to settle and start in the right way."

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