Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has a slew of unavailability concerns heading into his side’s Wednesday night EFL Cup quarterfinal versus Brentford. Omar Marmoush and Rayan Ait-Nouri will soon depart for the Africa Cup of Nations, and after this game, will not be back until mid-January, at the earliest. Given that situation, and their lack of playing time recently, neither are likely to feature. Forward Jeremy Doku is a fresh injury concern, with a lower leg problem.
This past weekend also saw Pep provide updates (of sorts, at least) on two of the most injury prone players in recent club history- Rodri and John Stones.
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Let’s start with the former, who is still convalescing from a thigh injury. “Rodri is training really well,” Guardiola said on Friday. “He is doing his rehab really well, and he looks sharper and sharper every day. But I don’t think we are going to see him for the weekend – he is the process, definitely.”
The goalposts have been moved back so many times with Rodri that it is simply impossible to really trust any update that the club gives at this point.
It sounds like he’s out for Wednesday, but could be fit for Saturday? Can we truly believe that, or will his timeline be moved back yet again?
The same timeline is in place for Stones, who is also dealing with a thigh injury of some sort.
“It was [his] thigh, I think,” Pep said of Stones, during the same session.
“It wasn’t something too big; he will be back soon.”
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.