Mendy faces late fitness test for visit of Shakhtar

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Defender Benjamin Mendy joined Manchester City from Monaco for £52m in the summerBBC coverageHow to follow:Listen on BBC Radio 5 live and BBC local radio; text commentary on the BBC Sport website

Manchester City left-back Benjamin Mendy faces a late fitness test for Tuesday's Champions League game against Shakhtar Donetsk at Etihad Stadium.

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Mendy was substituted with a knee problem during City's 5-0 win against Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Midfielder Ilkay Gundogan (knee) and defender Vincent Kompany (calf) are not yet fit.

Unbeaten City are top of the Premier League and have scored 27 goals in eight games so far this season.

"When we play at home we feel we are going to score goals," said City boss Pep Guardiola. "How many chances we create and concede is quite similar to last season. The stability can go down.

"We have to be careful and work in our habits and our fundamentals. Always we can do better and this is another test."

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City striker Sergio Aguero has made a fine start to the Premier League season with six goals in six games.

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The Argentine scored against Crystal Palace, moving him on to 176 goals for City and two more against Ukrainian side Shakhtar will make him the club's all-time top scorer.

However, Guardiola has warned his players not to underestimate Tuesday's opponents.

"It is the seventh time I have played against Shakhtar," said the former Bayern Munich and Barcelona manager.

"The first time we faced them was in the Champions League group stage. My team went to see them and came back saying 'wow'. I can assure you they were always one of the best teams in terms of playing football. It was always was so tough for me.

"My players are going to see how good they are and hopefully I can convince them to take them seriously. Shakhtar deserve all my credit."

MATCH FACTSNo Ukrainian club has ever won an away game in the Champions League against English opposition (D2 L12). In fact, Shakhtar have lost all four of their trips to England in the competition.Manchester City are unbeaten in their past nine Champions League home games (W6 D3), their longest run without defeat on home soil in the competition. City's last defeat at the Etihad dates was in September 2015 against Juventus.Three of Manchester City's four goals against Feyenoord in their first Group F match came from corners. They have never won their opening two games of a Champions League campaign.None of Manchester City's 37 Champions League group games have ended goalless. Shakhtar have lost their past four away games in the Champions League, conceding 14 goals and scoring none.However, Shakhtar have the opportunity to win their opening two games of a Champions League campaign for only the third time, having previously done so in 2007-08 and 2010-11.Of Shakhtar Donetsk's 108 goals in the Champions League, 69 have been scored by Brazilians - the highest ratio for any team having made at least three appearances in the competition.If he plays, Andiy Pyatov will become the fourth Ukrainian to reach 50 games in the Champions League.

Source: bbc.com