Pep Guardiola chose to rest both Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland as his Manchester City strode to a 4-1 victory over Aston Villa.
Phil Foden netted a superb hat-trick after Rodri had given the reigning champions the lead, however they were given a scare with Jhon Duran initially cancelling out the City midfielder’s opener. John Stones was again an unused substitute for City with Guardiola clearly not feeling the need to use the England international.
Nathan Ake, Kyle Walker and Ederson remained out injured and while City have thus far coped well in their absence, Guardiola will be hoping the trio can return sooner rather than later. Elsewhere in the Premier League title race, Jurgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta are also dealing with injuries in their respective Arsenal and Liverpool squads.
Bukayo Saka was absent for Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Luton with Mikel Arteta offering an explanation as to why he missed out despite being in training.
Elsewhere, Jurgen Klopp is still without the likes of Diogo Jota, Allison and Trent Alexander-Arnold with another key player now a fresh doubt after picking up a knock against Brighton this past weekend. With that in mind, MEN Sport has taken a look at the latest from the treatment room.
Nathan Ake
Injury: Unspecified.
Potential return date: Unknown.
What Guardiola has said: “Injured. Hopefully he will be back soon. I don’t know exactly the timing. For sure, the next games he won’t be ready.”
Ederson
Injury: Leg.
Possible return date: Unknown.
What Guardiola has said: N/A.
John Stones
Injury: Adductor.
Potential return date: Aston Villa (H) – April 3.
What Guardiola has said: “He [John] has to feel fully fit. But the injury was less than we expected. We’ll see. For today or maybe for the next games he’ll be ready.”
Kyle Walker
Injury: Hamstring.
Potential return date: Unknown.
What Guardiola has said: N/A.
Arsenal injuries
Mikel Arteta has been quite fortunate with injuries in recent weeks however that ended against Man City last weekend when Saka hobbled off. The 22-year-old was missing from the matchday squad that beat Luton Town on Wednesday evening with Arteta providing an update on his condition.
In a press conference, he said: “He was close but again he felt something in a very similar area against City and it was a very short turnaround. Hopefully he’ll be able to train again and we can have him for the weekend.”
Liverpool injuries
With Jota, Allison and Alexander-Arnold still missing, Jurgen Klopp is still struggling to fill his matchday squad with senior players because of injuries. Mohamed Salah returning has arrived as a boost and Curtis Jones could join him in action against Sheffield United having missed the last six weeks.
Jones being back to bolster Liverpool’s midfield ranks could be huge, however Klopp has now suffered another midfield blow regarding Wataru Endo. “He got a knock in the last game so we will have to see what we do with him for tomorrow,” Klopp revealed on Wednesday.
