De Jong collected his fifth booking of the season at Tottenham on Wednesday, so his midfield spot is likely to go to Vincent Kompany.
Although the Blues had lost just one Premier League game all season prior to the White Hart Lane reverse, they are now on a run of one win in 10 and will be desperate for a return to winning ways to ease the pressure on Mark Hughes.
Man City (from): Given, Taylor, Richards, Zabaleta, Toure, Lescott, Onuoha, Sylvinho, Garrido, Kompany, Ireland, Barry, Robinho, Petrov, Wright-Phillips, Adebayor, Tevez, Santa Cruz, Weiss, Benjani.
