These trips to Bournemouth are not for the faint of heart. For the first time, Manchester City succumbed to the Cherries at the weekend and Pep Guardiola cannot point to a supposed injury crisis for mitigation.
City are still short of key names and the manager was unable to fully integrate a couple of returning stars on Saturday, including Kevin De Bruyne, but would be a a bad service next to Andoni Iraola to focus only on those that the citizens did not have.
The perennial champions’ injury problems were not as bad as they appeared heading into the game, with City having a few more. that the 13 players that Guardiola suspected would be available before the match
However, there are new fitness concerns and her schedule is relentless ahead of the November holidays. Here are the latest ones Manchester City injury updates as they prepare to face Ruben Amorim’s Sporting CP.
City supporters have been getting used to life without John Stones over the past 12 months, with the England international struggling to string together a consistent run of games in the starting eleven.
Stones captained the Cityzens Carabao Cup defeat at Tottenham last Wednesday and subsequently was unavailable on Saturday.
The centre-back has a foot injury and Guardiola is not sure if he will play before the international break: “John, I don’t know if he will return for the next two games”, said the Spaniard.
While Kyle Walker and Manuel Akanji returned to the starting XI at the Vitality, Ruben Dias joined the Stones on the sidelines.
The defender’s half-time withdrawal was initially not thought to have been forced through injury, but the Portuguese centre-back picked up a muscle problem in the N17 and was absent on Saturday as a result.
Guardiola has already confirmed that Dias will be sidelined until after the international break.
Like Stones, Jack Grealish has been no stranger to the treatment table in recent times and there is a lot of ambiguity surrounding his latest setback.
No information has been provided on the type of injury that has kept Grealish out of City’s last four games. What we do know is that the winger maintained the theme in training ahead of the Cityzens. Champions League clash with Sparta Prague on October 23.
English is also expected to be down until after the November shutdown.
After shining last season, Oscar Bobb starred in pre-season and was bound to enjoy a breakthrough season in Manchester.
However, the young Norwegian suffered a cruel injury blow at the end of the summer. Bobb suffered a broken leg in August and it’s not about to come back yet.
It should return to action in early 2025.
The Ballon d’Or winner will have no chance of defending his crown next year due to the torn anterior cruciate ligament he suffered during Man City draw 2-2 with Arsenal in September
The absence of Rodri he has been heavily felt at the base of City’s midfield and Guardiola’s side will have to endure the rest of the 2024/25 campaign without him.
