Manuel Pellegrini, mainly due to injuries, has tried numerous central defensive partnerships but now regards the pairing of captain Vincent Kompany and Martin Demichelis as his preferred choice.
That represents a shift in the pecking order to the cost of Matija Nastasic, who has been hampered by ankle and calf injuries this season.
Joleon Lescott has also featured more prominently in recent weeks, but Pellegrini insists it is a fluid arrangement.
Pellegrini said: "At this moment Kompany and Demichelis are the first choice.
"But I am very happy with the whole squad - I can change them."
As City strive onwards in four competitions, there has been talk of records but that is not Pellegrini's main concern.
He said: "Of course (I would be proud) but it can't be the most important thing to break records.
"What's important to me is that the team keep on playing in the same way.
"If we carry on in this way and score over 100 goals - then perfect, but we are not trying to break a record.
"We are not going to go all out attack just because we want to score 100 goals.
"We will try to continue in the same way and see how many we have at the end of the season."