Guardiola explains Aguero absence for Man City against Bournemouth

Pep Guardiola has explained why he left Sergio Aguero out of Manchester City's squad to face Bournemouth on Sunday.

The Argentina international, who has scored 12 goals in all competitions thus far this season, was a notable absentee as the Premier League champions welcomed Eddie Howe's men to the Etihad Stadium.

Guardiola revealed that Aguero sustained a "slight knock" during City's 2-2 Champions League draw with Lyon.

"He’s muscular disturbing, he’s not completely fit, a little bit risky,’ Guardiola said on Saturday.

"The doctors and physios tell me it would be a risk if he plays and we don’t want to take that risk."

Gabriel Jesus has subsequently been picked to lead the line on Saturday, with the Brazilian ably supported by Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling.

Aguero is not expected to miss a large portion of action, with City facing Chelsea next weekend after a midweek clash with Watford.

With the festive fixtures ramping up the workload for every club, Guardiola has unsurprisingly decided to rotate his XI.

Ederson keeps his place in goal, while Danilo plays at right-back ahead of Kyle Walker. Aymeric Laporte and Nicolas Otamendi play at centre-back, ahead of John Stones and Vincent Kompany, with Oleksandr Zinchenko at left-back.

In midfield, Ilkay Gundogan is partnered with Fernandinho, while Bernardo Silva, Sane, Sterling will support lone striker Jesus.

A strong bench sees Walker, Vincent Kompany, Fabian Delph, David Silva and Riyad Mahrez all on the sidelines, along with reserve goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and wonderkid Phil Foden.

City have been in imperious form thus far this season, winning 11 games and drawing two, scoring a staggering 40 goals, 12 more than their next-highest scorers Chelsea and Arsenal.

They have conceded just five, too, leaving them with the joint-best defence along with Liverpool.