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Manchester City is likely to be without Rodri as it takes on Liverpool in the Premier League this weekend, while Mateo Kovacic is also sidelined for Pep Guardiola's team.
"We will see tomorrow but I think we will not take a risk," Guardiola said on Friday when he was asked about Rodri. The Spanish star came off the bench against Bournemouth last weekend, making his comeback from injury, but then missed out on the matchday squad entirely against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League midweek.
"It’s the international break afterwards," Guardiola continued. "We can wait for the moment he feels strong, feels fit and can sustain the actions in the game which are so demanding, so he can sustain it properly, to make that step.
"Still, we are in November. The best part of the season is ahead of us and we need him.
"Still, we are playing without a Ballon d’Or winner, a massively important player for us and we are desperate to have him back. But Nico (Gonzalez) right now is becoming a really good and important player."
Alexander Isak is potentially set to return to the matchday squad for Liverpool, though he will only make the bench if he is fit enough. Hugo Ekitike deserves to keep his place in the starting XI.
Alisson Becker will not be back for this game but should be available against Nottingham Forest after the international break.
Jeremie Frimpong and Giovanni Leoni are both sidelined. The former will be another few weeks, while the latter is set to miss the remainder of the season with an ACL injury.
"[The Manchester City match is] a very interesting game to look forward to because when I wasn’t working here and when I was in Holland, I did know when City v Liverpool was or when Liverpool v City was," Arne Slot said in his media briefing.
"I could tell you I was 100 per cent sure in front of my television when this game was there. Similar to the Clasico, by the way, but these are the few games everyone is looking forward to and if you are not part of it, you are looking forward to it as well.
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"I think it’s always worth watching because so many great individuals are playing that game and these teams, nine out of 10 times, give you what you expect.
"For me with Pep [Guardiola] that’s 10 out of 10... what I liked about Pep Guardiola’s teams is that 10 out of 10 times you get what you are hoping for: a great game of football.
"No time-wasting and all kinds of things that I start to dislike more and more and more about football. These are not the things you can see if you are watching a Man City game."
Liverpool.com says: The main threat for the Reds will be Erling Haaland. The Norwegian is in great form at the moment and Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate will need to be on their game.
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