Pep Guardiola left sweating on fitness of three Manchester City stars ahead of Crystal Palace clash

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is still sweating on the fitness of three players.

After playing out an enthralling 3-3 draw with Newcastle at the weekend, the Premier League champions made the trip to Spain to play Barcelona in a charity friendly.

Guardiola made a series of changes to the lineup from St. James' Park, with Stefan Ortega, Kalvin Phillips, Cole Palmer and Julian Alvarez among those who started at Camp Nou.

Cole Palmer scores vs Barcelona (Twitter)

Alvarez put City in front before City fell behind courtesy of goals from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Frenkie de Jong.

Palmer restored parity before Memphis Depay again put the hosts in front, with Riyad Mahrez coming on to score a stoppage time penalty to pull City level after Erling Haaland was brought down in the area.

Having conceded six times in four days and drawn successive games, Guardiola will be keen on leading City back to winning ways when the Blues welcome Crystal Palace to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

Manchester City celebrate against Barcelona in a charity friendly.

The Eagles have impressed against Arsenal and Liverpool in their opening games, winning 3-1 against Aston Villa in their most recent league outing.

Manchester City will be seeking revenge against Patrick Vieira's men, who pulled off a 2-0 victory over the Premier League champions in the fixture last term.

City have taken seven points from their opening three league games and enter matchday four in second place in the table, only behind Mikel Arteta's Arsenal.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola

Speaking ahead of the visit from Palace, Pep Guardiola has provided an update on his squad's fitness whilst speaking in his press conference on Friday afternoon.

The Catalan was unable to confirm whether Kalvin Phillips, Nathan Ake, Jack Grealish or Luke Mbete will play any part in Saturday's clash at the Etihad Stadium.

"We train this afternoon. Then I will know the situation of everyone. I don't know at the moment," said the 51 year-old.

Allan Saint-Maximin in action for Newcastle (Twitter)

City faced a tough battle in defence against Newcastle, who caused the Blues all sorts of problems in the first half and entered the interval with a two-goal cushion.

Erling Haaland and Bernardo Silva scored around the hour mark to set up an entertaining finale at St. James' Park.

Despite City's efforts to claim a late winner, Eddie Howe's men held out for a much deserved point and Guardiola will be demanding an improved all-round display from his side this weekend.

City have been drawn alongside Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund and FC Copenhagen in the Champions League group-stage this season following Thursday's draw.