Pep Guardiola says Erling Haaland will not feature in Saturday's Premier League trip to Newcastle United.

The Norwegian has not played since our defeat to Aston Villa in early December due to a foot injury.

Guardiola says his No.9 will not be on the pitch at St James’ Park in the 17:30 (UK) kick-off on Saturday.

The boss also confirmed that John Stones is unavailable and that Jack Grealish is a doubt after suffering with illness this week.

“No,” he said when asked if Haaland will play at Newcastle.

“Jack [Grealish] has been sick. Hopefully today he’s back.

“Erling is out and John is out. I think that’s everything.”

Newcastle v City | Match preview

Kevin De Bruyne returned in last week’s FA Cup victory over Huddersfield Town, assisting Jeremy Doku just 17 minutes after coming on as a substitute.

Following his first competitive action since August, Guardiola now believes the Belgian is ready to start matches in the Premier League.

“I saw him yesterday and he feels good and dynamic,” he said.

“He played good, better than the sessions before Huddersfield.

“It was five months, he was high and low in training as he recovered which was normal but he’s getting better.

“He had a few days off then trained, then we have warm weather training in Abu Dhabi which helps him prepare.”

City have an excellent record against the Magpies, having lost just one of our last 32 Premier League meetings.

Our 30 wins, 98 goals and 22 clean sheets against Newcastle is more than we have managed against any other opponent in the division’s history.

We’ll be looking to make it a league double over Eddie Howe’s side having registered a 1-0 victory at the Etihad back in August.

Despite that record, Guardiola praised the way Newcastle and Howe have battled against him during his time in England.

“Always has been [tough opponents] especially since Eddie Howe took over,” he said.

“The opponent is there.

“We’ve faced him many times with Bournemouth and Newcastle. We have a good history together.”

NEWCASTLE UNITED V CITY COVERAGE

Our official app allows you to follow all of the action from Newcastle in one place.

Minute-by-minute text updates will begin in our Matchday Centre two hours before kick-off, while our Matchday Live show will begin at 16:30 (UK). 

Paul Dickov and Richard Dunne are the guests on the latest Matchday Live show, offering their expert insight before, during and after the action.

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They will also answer viewer questions throughout the broadcast, with audience participation actively encouraged on Matchday Live. To get in touch, send a WhatsApp to: +447537186538.

During the game you can also listen to live audio commentary from Alistair Mann while our text commentary continues.

Make sure to have push notifications turned on as well, so you can be alerted to key moments in the action, including goals, red cards and the team news.

Highlights from the match, as well as a full-match replay [available on CITY+] can be accessed from midnight.