Manchester City suffered a crushing blow, to their Premier League title hopes, in losing the Manchester derby to United yesterday. There is still a chance for them to get back into the title race, but it doesn’t look good. Their odds are now better in the Champions League, where a last 16 place is all but assured, and maybe they should prioritize that competition?
Up next is a trip to Bodo/Glimt on Tuesday night, and perhaps Pep Guardiola will do some squad rotation in this one.
UEFA Champions League Matchday 7
Manchester City at Bodo/Glimt
Kickoff: Tue Jan 20, 5:45pm, Aspmyra Stadion, Bodo, Norway
UCL Standings: Manchester City 4th, 13 pts Bodo/Glimt 32nd, 3 pts
Google Result Probability: Manchester City Win 69% Draw 17% Bodo/Glimt Win 14%
Manchester City Team News
Marc Guehi is set to underog his medical, very soon, and with that, complete his 20m GBP move from Crystal Palace. Howver, even if it’s done in time for this game, he would still not be eligible to feature in this competition right now. We more on that in this post.
Matheus Nunes missed Saturday’s derby due to a virus, but should be back available for the midweek continental competition. Nico Gonzalez missed out too, due to an unspecified injury of some sort.
Pep spoke on it, but said next to nothing that was actually informative about it.
Meanwhile City still have their injury crisis going on in the back, with Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol and John Stones all still sidelined.
Dias may not be out too much longer, but Stones will still be absent for awhile, and Gvardiol, a long while.
‘Without John, without Ruben, without Josko, we’re in a difficult situation [defensively] not for one game, but for a long, long period,” Pep said on Friday.
“Ruben will be back soon, John, hopefully – we’ll see, but Josko, no.” And then finally, Erling Haaland went to ground at Old Trafford yesterday, requiring medical treatment on the pitch, just before halftime.
However, he was fine and played on in the second half for awhile.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, RG.org and Ratings.org. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Washington Post.