Pep Guardiola is faced with making a tough call on the injured Erling Haaland for Manchester City's trip to Leicester this weekend.
The Norway international striker picked up an injury in the Citizen's 0-0 draw with his former side Borussia Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park on Tuesday and was taken off at half-time in the Champions League clash.
Haaland has since been pictured limping into Man City's medical centre on Wednesday to receive treatment, with Guardiola admitting he will make a late fitness call on his side's top goalscorer ahead of this weekend's Premier League clash at the King Power stadium.
"He is better. Training this afternoon. We will assess in a few hours," Guardiola told the press on Friday, suggesting he could risk fielding Haaland against the Foxes.
The City boss stressed he has a good back-up option in Julian Alvarez should he be forced to leave the Norwegian out of the action.
"Normally if Erling Haaland is not ready then Julian is the first option, of course. Of course, we are going to play him, definitely," he added.
"He can play as a false nine but I don't think this is going to happen, I think Julian can drop and is good at dropping and playing so I think if Erling is not able - not tomorrow, but in the future - Julian is the first option."
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On how Alvarez has developed he said: "I don't judge [his lack of goals compared to Haaland], I know how minutes he has played, I know how difficult it is when you're not used to playing regularly, doing that, the impact in the game.
"But since day one we have been very impressed by many, many things about him. Many, many things about him. There is no doubt about that."
Champions Man City can move to the top of the table with a win over Leicester on Saturday ahead of Arsenal's clash with basement dwellers Nottingham Forest.
But Guardiola is taking nothing for granted against a Foxes side that have struggled this season, and says he expects a difficult clash against Brendan Rodgers' boys.
"Really tough. [Their] best moment of the season we face them. But it doesn't matter what position [in the table] they're in, always it is tough because of the quality they have, the experienced manager," said Guardiola.
On Rodgers, he added: "He knows exactly what he has to do. When everything is going well it's easy to be a manager, the problem is how you handle it when it's not going well.
"The expectations are always there at Leicester because of what they've done in the past, winning the Premier League and FA Cup, Community Shield, always being near the top, not qualifying for the Champions League in the final games when it was in their hands.
"It's not easy to handle, but you have seen they have lost or game in their last four or five so that means they are back."
