The majority of Manchester City players will be given a few days' mid-season break after the Premier League clash with Southampton.
The Blues will have no game for a fortnight after avoiding any Covid postponements during the ravages of the Omicron variant, returning with an FA Cup fourth-round tie against Fulham on February 5, followed by a home league game with Brentford four days later.
Only Ederson and Gabriel Jesus will miss the break, as they have been called up to the Brazil squad which has re-arranged World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Paraguay during the fortnight club break.
They will fly out to join up with the Selecao after the Southampton game, and are due back three days before the Fulham game.
The rest of the squad are expected to take short breaks with their families, after the Blues ditched a plan to fly to Abu Dhabi for a warm-weather training stint, due to the ongoing problems with the pandemic.
Riyad Mahrez has already begun a week's holiday after Algeria's shock exit from the African Nations Cup, and will not join up with the squad for the trip to Southampton.
"They will have a few days off to rest a little bit. Most of them never have a week off because they go to the national teams. They can spend time with their families and friends," said Guardiola, whose team are seeking a 13th straight league win on the bounce at St Mary's.
Guardiola confirmed that there had been outline plans to head to the Middle East during the break, but it had been decided against.
"We spoke with the club and it’s not safe enough to go there all together right now because of the virus. We decide that everyone can go with themselves with their families," he said.
