“I’ll lower myself and just play for a draw”- Man City Boss Pep Guardiorla reveals his most important player won’t play against Arsenal when they meet next month as he begs Arteta to bench his £38M star who could add salt to their injuries
“I’ll lower myself and just play for a draw”- Man City Boss Pep Guardiorla reveals his most important player won’t play against Arsenal when they meet next month as he begs Arteta to bench his £38M star who could add salt to their injuries
Man City dealt major injury blow ahead of Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool clashes
Pep Guardiola has revealed that Ruben Dias has suffered a potentially major injury ahead of Manchester City’s Premier League clash with Chelsea on Saturday.
City take on Chelsea at the Etihad just a few days after blowing a two goal lead to lose 4-2 to PSG in the Champions League.
That result means they are on the verge on an embarrassing early exit from Europe and defeat to the Blues would also hurt their chances of finishing in the Premier League top four.
As it stands, the Citizens are fifth in the table, two points behind Chelsea with Arsenal and Nottingham Forest a further four points clear.
To make matters worse for Guardiola, one of his key players will miss this weekend’s clash and could well be sidelined for the long-term.
Dias was forced off at half-time in Paris and speaking after the game Guardiola revealed the centre-back ‘asked to be replaced because he didn’t feel good’, but was hopeful the issue was nothing serious.
But in his pre-match press conference on Friday, the manager revealed: ‘Ruben and [Jeremy] Doku are out. The other players out are [still] out.’
Pressed on the nature of Dias’ injury, Guardiola added: ‘Abductor. I don’t know [his recovery time] yet. He’s been stable and always able to play a lot of games, but this season it is what it is.’
The 27-year-old is a key part of City’s defence but has now suffered three separate injuries this campaign, with the team winning just three of the 10 games he has missed so far.
The timescale for recovering from abductor injuries varies and it could be weeks if not months before Dias is back, meaning he may miss several huge matches.
Over the next month, City take on Chelsea, Arsenal, Newcastle, Liverpool and Tottenham in the league, as well as Leyton Orient in the FA Cup and Club Brugge in the decisive Champions League clash.
In an attempt to turnaround their ailing season, the Citizens have splashed £152million on three new players – Omar Marmoush, Vitor Reis and Abdukodir Khusanov – and Guardiola has confirmed all three could make their debut against Chelsea.
‘They can play, but I don’t know yet. We don’t have players,’ he said.
‘[Marmoush brings] exceptional quality to the team. He’s a future player for years with quality in the final third. That’s why [we signed him].’
