Manchester City only have three fitness concerns right now, but they are indeed MAJOR issues as they pertain to three of their biggest guns: Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne and Ederson. A huge crunch clash kicks off in a fortnight, when Man City will host Arsenal in a battle for first place. Arsenal are currently top of the table, on goal differential only (+7 on Liverpool) with 64 points while Manchester City are third, with 63 points.
Let’s take a look and see if City will (or won’t) have the services of their leading scorer, starting goalkeeper and midfield maestro who makes their engine hum.
We looked at the fitness news for Arsenal, who will have an extra eight days of rest advantage on City, at this link.
Now let’s start with Haaland, who was replaced by Julian Alvarez late in the 2-0 FA Cup quarterfinal. Manager Pep Guardiola said he’s not hurt, and then talked about his scoring sensation now going off to Norway for the international break.
“He is not my player anymore from now on, what they will decide will be fine,” Pep said.
“They know that they fought a lot and train a lot, a lot of adrenaline and concentration to arrive in this position. They know they are friendly games and they have to handle it wisely. Hopefully they can do it.”
Moving on to De Bruyne, he missed out yesterday, and he will be not be a part of the Belgium squad this international period. He suffered a minor groin injury in the epic draw with Liverpool last weekend.
“Kevin will be back soon, but when you see the schedule after the international break, we have Arsenal, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, Madrid,” said Guardiola.
“Three days, three days, three days. Will be really tough, and we have to have everyone.”
Finally, with Ederson, he has a leg injury that we covered already here and here. He faces a race against the clock to be ready for this one. The current timeline for injury recovery makes him a “doubt” for this crunch clash.
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 Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMG’s NFL Wire Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times. You can follow him on Twitter.