Key Man City defender to miss Arsenal clash

The Citizens will have to play against the Gunners without John Stones.

Pep Guardiola has confirmed that John Stones will miss Manchester City’s upcoming game against Arsenal.

City bounced back from their consecutive defeats against Newcastle and Wolves by beating Leipzig in the Champions League on Wednesday. Stones spent the entire game on the bench despite participating in full training last week.

Several injury issues have kept the defender out of City’s squad since their defeat against Arsenal in the Community Shield in August. He will now have to restart his rehab away from the team.

“Stones is not ready to play. Maybe for the national team, but not for us,” Guardiola told a pre-match press conference.

City are also dealing with the absence of two key midfielders. Kevin De Bruyne is out with a long-term injury, while Rodri misses the game due to suspension.

“Rodri is one of the two or three best holding midfielders in the world, so his influence on the team is going to be big,” Guardiola added.

“But he’s not there. We’ve coped with absences in the past and we’ll have to adapt. The team spirit and relation is much more important than any tactic. If you have a good relation, if one player makes a mistake, your team mate is going to help you.

“The relation is so important and when we have an absence as important as Rodri, we need to look deep inside us to solve it.”