John Stones and Savinho absent from Manchester City squad against West Ham | OneFootball

John Stones and Savinho are missing from Manchester City’s matchday squad to face West Ham in the Premier League on Saturday night.

The Blues are seeking a return to winning ways at the London Stadium after seeing a 11-game unbeaten run come to an end against Real Madrid in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie in midweek.

City enter this weekend’s games seven points adrift of Premier League leaders Arsenal, who have played an extra game and kicked off against Everton at home in the hours leading to the whistle being blown at the London Stadium.

There is no margin for error in the Premier League title race for Guardiola’s side in their final nine games of the domestic season, with every game a final between now and the end of the campaign for a City side still in the running for an unprecedented quadruple.

What are the key takeaways from Manchester City’s lineup to face West Ham?

Ahead of Saturday’s 20:00 UK kick-off between West Ham and Manchester City, it has been confirmed that John Stones and Savinho have not made the trip to London to face the Hammers.

Guardiola has made three changes to the Manchester City starting XI that was put to the sword by Federico Valverde and Real Madrid in Spain on Wednesday night.

Matheus Nunes, Omar Marmoush and Rayan Ait-Nouri have come in for Savinho, Jeremy Doku and Ruben Dias respectively as the Blues search for momentum ahead of next week’s monumental European return leg at home against Real Madrid.

Why are John Stones and Savinho absent from the matchday squad?

Mail Sport’s Jack Gaughan has revealed that Savinho is not fully fit to face West Ham and that Stones has been left by Guardiola, who received criticism over his team selection at the Santiago Bernabeu in midweek.

Guardiola will be watching from the stands at the London Stadium as he serves the first of a two-game touchline ban after receiving a sixth domestic yellow card of the season in the FA Cup against Newcastle United last weekend.

Manchester City cannot afford any further slip-ups in the title race and must keep up the pressure on Arsenal by taking all three points back to the north-west, with one eye on the Round of 16 second leg against Real Madrid.

A Carabao Cup final clash with Arsenal at Wembley is also on the horizon for Manchester City, who need to step up and prove their doubters wrong at every step of the way in the run-in if they are to enjoy a successful finish to their first full season under director of football Hugo Viana.