The titleholders could be forced to line up without a number of their key players in Saturday’s showdown at Stamford Bridge.
Manchester City “still have a few injuries” ahead of the Premier League meeting with Chelsea, Pep Guardiola has informed.
A serious injury crisis has come about at Manchester City, with midfielders Ilkay Gundogan and Rodri and defenders John Stones, Aymeric Laporte, and Oleksandr Zinchenko all struggling for fitness.
All the aforementioned players did not feature in Tuesday’s Carabao Cup third-round victory over Wycombe, and their availability for the trip to Stamford Bridge remains uncertain.
Gundogan’s last appearance for the Sky Blues came against Southampton on September 18, Laporte’s against Leicester City on September 11, while Rodri and Zinchenko last featured against RB Leipzig on September 15. Stones, meanwhile, was sent for a spell on the sidelines during the international break.
“We still have a few injuries,” Guardiola said at his pre-match press conference on Friday.
“Some of them came back a little bit in training and tomorrow we will decide if they are ready to play or not.
“Not all of them [are in contention]. Some of them come back to training today, but we need to see how they react and tomorrow we will see.”
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