MNC NEWS:BHuge injury blow for Manchester City as star player ruled out till early January
Pep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City, reacts during the Premier League match between Newcastle United FC and Manchester City FC at St James’ P…
The queue for the Manchester City treatment room has got even longer as Pep Guardiola was handed another injury blow before his side’s Carabao Cup tie against Tottenham.
Guardiola was forced to prepare for the last-16 clash at Spurs without six key first-team players, including the freshly-crowned Ballon d’Or winner Rodri, who is recovering from a season-ending knee injury.
Kevin de Bruyne is another big-name absentee, with Guardiola confirming this week that he does not know when the Belgian will return from his current hamstring issue.
Guardiola made seven changes to his side that beat Southampton 1-0 at the weekend for tonight’s clash, but was then forced into another late, late change prior to kick-off.
Man City suffer injury in warm-up
Manuel Akanji was one of the four players who had kept his place in the Man City team, but the Swiss defender had to be taken out of Guardiola’s starting line-up after suffering an injury in the warm-up.
Manchester City’s Manuel Akanji during the Premier League match between Manchester City FC and Southampton FC at Etihad Stadium on October 26, 2024…
Photo by Dave Howarth – CameraSport via Getty Images
Ruben Dias was drafted into the starting XI off the bench to replace Akanji, with Guardiola likely to provide an update on the 29-year-old following the match.
City then feared that youngster Nico O’Reilly had suffered an injury after he went down in pain during the first-half, but he was fortunately able to continue after receiving treatment.
Guardiola’s pre-match plea falls goes unanswered
Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Tuesday, Guardiola went as far as telling the media that getting through the match without any more injuries was one of his key objectives in north London.
“Perform well, this is what I want, no injuries please and go to the last week before the international break in November,” he said.
“If these guys don’t come back as quick as possible, we will struggle,” he added. “We cannot sustain with just 14, 15 players for the season. Hopefully it can happen after the international break.”
While we wait to learn the extent of Akanji’s issue, the Swiss joins Rodri, De Bruyne, Kyle Walker, Oscar Bobb, Jack Grealish and Jeremy Doku on the Man City injury list.
Next up for the Premier League champions is a trip to Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon, with a Champions League trip to Sporting following on Tuesday evening and then Brighton away next weekend.
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