Man City without Ruben Dias as United prepare to welcome back Edinson Cavani

Manchester City will have John Stones and Aymeric Laporte as their only fit central defenders for Sunday’s Premier League derby against United with Ruben Dias facing an extended spell on the sidelines.

The Portugal international could be out for up to six weeks after suffering a hamstring injury in Tuesday’s 2-0 FA Cup win over Peterborough, the same match in which fellow defender Nathan Ake suffered a less serious injury which will also keep him out on Sunday.

But manager Pep Guardiola reported no other issues ahead of the match and said that forward Cole Palmer is nearing a return.

Edinson Cavani is set to feature for the first time in almost a month when United head to the Etihad.

The 35-year-old striker has not featured since the 1-1 draw at Burnley on February 8, with a groin issue ruling him out of five straight matches.

Scott McTominay has missed two matches through illness, with interim boss Ralf Rangnick saying Untied “have two or three question marks behind some players”. Mason Greenwood remains suspended by the club.

Manchester City provisional squad: Ederson, Carson, Walker, Stones, Zinchenko, Laporte, Cancelo, Mbete, Gundogan, Rodri, De Bruyne, Silva, Grealish, Fernandinho, Foden, McAtee, Lavia, Sterling, Jesus, Mahrez, Kayky, Delap.

Manchester United provisional squad: De Gea, Henderson, Heaton, Grant, Wan-Bissaka, Dalot, Maguire, Lindelof, Bailly, Varane, Jones, Shaw, Telles, Matic, Fred, McTominay, Mejbri, Pogba, Fernandes, Lingard, Mata, Sancho, Elanga, Rashford, Ronaldo, Cavani.