Kevin De Bruyne has boosted his chances of featuring against Liverpool in next week's Carabao Cup tie as he returned to full Manchester City training on Tuesday.
The 31-year-old was one of 16 City players to jet off to this winter's World Cup finals in Qatar. However, his chances of securing a first major international trophy with Belgium were dashed as a shock defeat to Morocco and a stalemate with Croatia saw Roberto Martinez's side unable to qualify for the knockout rounds.
It meant that De Bruyne's tournament was over on December 1. He and fellow members of the Red Devils' 26-man contingent then made their way back home and handed a much-needed break ahead of joining up with their clubs in the forthcoming weeks.
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During that time, manager Pep Guardiola and Manchester City ventured on a mid-season training camp to Abu Dhabi while the World Cup was played out in Qatar. But after returning to the City Football Academy this week, De Bruyne made a return to training on Wednesday morning and was pictured being put through his paces with the likes of Erling Haaland.
City are also expected to have Ilkay Gundogan available for the contest with the Reds at the Etihad on December 22, with the midfielder also suffering a group-stage elimination as Germany failed to negotiate their way out of Group E.
Meanwhile, Liverpool welcomed Darwin Nunez to the NAS Sports Complex in Dubai on Tuesday morning after he was sanctioned a one-week break following Uruguay's elimination on December 2. As it stands, Ibrahima Konate is the club's last representative in Qatar as France prepare for a World Cup semi-final with Morocco on Wednesday.
The French defender will miss the Reds' visit to the Etihad and also their Boxing Day trip to Aston Villa as he will be involved in an additional game in the Middle East this weekend, with Didier Deschamps' side either featuring in Saturday's third-place play-off or Sunday's showpiece final. Jurgen Klopp has handed all of his players one week off after their international exploits and so Konate could more likely be in line for a return for Leicester City's visit to Anfield on December 30.
After England's elimination against France on Saturday, Jordan Henderson and Trent Alexander-Arnold could potentially line up at the Etihad on Thursday week but are more likely to be involved in the Boxing Day visit to Villa Park.
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