Manchester City suffered a roadblock in their Premier League title charge yesterday, playing Sunderland to a nil-nil draw. The goalless result also brought injuries for Savinho and Nico Gonzalez. The latter went off at halftime, while the former had to be subbed off a few minutes after that. We don’t know the specific nature of the injuries to Savinho and Gonzalez, let alone the severity, at this time.
However, Man City manager Pep Guardiola was blunt about one of the players: “Savinho, it doesn’t look good…”
Chelsea FC at Manchester City FYIs
Kickoff: Sun. Jan. 4, 5:30pm, Etihad Stadium, Manchester, UK
Team News: Chelsea FC Manchester City
Google Result Probability: Chelsea FC Draw 21% Manchester City 59%
PL Position, Form: Chelsea FC 5th 30 pts, DWDLL Manchester City 2nd, 40 pts, WWWWW
Man City Team News
As for Gonzalez, Guardiola was less definitive on him: “Nico, we will see…”
Rodri and Jeremy Doku were rushed back into service to replace them. Although maybe in the case of the latter, he wasn’t rushed, because Pep did predict a couple weeks ago that Doku would return from injury against Sunderland on New Year’s Day, and he did.
So while he’s back in the fold, the news is worse for Oscar Bobb and John Stones. They were not involved in any capacity on New Year’s Day, and it’s hard to say when they might be back. Other than what we just covered right here, right now, the injury and unavailability situation remains the same at City.
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.