Pep Guardiola has re-upped at Manchester City, signing a new deal that will keep him at the club for at least an additional year. The 53-year-old Spaniard is now inked to MCFC until 2026, and he’s got a whole host of challenges to deal with, in both the immediate and long-term future. Right now Guardiola has a full blown injury crisis on his hands, with so many injured players that we need to do this in two whole parts, ahead of the Tottenham Hotspur clash on Saturday.
Here in part one, we’ll cover John Stones, Ruben Dias, Jeremy Doku and Matheus Nunes.
Man City vs Tottenham Hotspur FYIs
Kick: Sat. Nov 23, 5:30pm, Etihad Stadium, Manchester, UK
Team News: Man City Part 1 Man City Part 2 Tottenham
Starting XI Predictions: Man City Tottenham
Full Injury List: Man City Tottenham
Google Result Probability: Man City 64% Draw 19% Tottenham 17%
PL Form: Man City WWWLL Tottenham LWLWL
PL Standing: Man City 2nd, 23 pts Tottenham 10th 16 pts
Man City Team News
Stones should be in contention this weekend, with Guardiola saying, before the international break: “John has a fasciitis splinter in the feet, and today he was not ready. I don’t know if he’ll be back for the next two games.” On Doku, who is dealing with a thigh problem, Pep’s most recent update was: “He has some muscular problems in his quadriceps. He doesn’t feel good; he cannot run at full speed. We will make a test [after the international break], and we’ll see how they feel.”
He could be passed fit to feature here. Ruben Dias (unspecified knock) could as well, but we’ll have to wait and see. Finally, Portugal ruled Matheus Nunes out of contention, for fitness reasons, this FIFA window.
The statement reads in part: “…while playing for [his] club] and has been declared unfit by their medical team.”
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, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG. 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, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.