Pep Guardiola is sweating on the fitness of two Manchester City players ahead of their top-of-the-table Premier League clash against Liverpool after the international break.
The defending champions have injury concerns over John Stones and Nathan Ake in the lead-up to the Reds’ visit to the Etihad Stadium on 25 November, with both players potentially facing a race against time to be available for the hotly-anticipated showdown.
Speaking on Saturday in relation to the England international [via Liverpool World], Guardiola said: “He is injured. He is not ready for tomorrow and we will see after international break. I don’t know (whether he will be ready) for Liverpool.
“The doctor says it’s not as bad (as first thought), but still I don’t know. When he is going to be fit again, he will be back.”
On Sunday, the Dutch FA confirmed that Ake has been forced to withdraw from their upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers due to injury, and with the second of those games taking place just four days before Man City’s next match, the 28-year-old may be a doubt to face the Reds.
With neither Stones nor Ake to call upon at the weekend, City were unusually brittle at the back as they shipped four goals to 10th-placed Chelsea in an all-time Premier League classic at Stamford Bridge.
Both players are pivotal to Guardiola’s preference for playing out from defence, with the Englishman (who’s also featured as a number 6) boasting the best passing success rate of any current player at the Etihad this season with an exceptional 97.5%, and the Dutchman sixth with 92.3% (WhoScored).
The 52-year-old will duly be desperate to have them back against a Liverpool team boasting arguably the league’s best player in Mo Salah, the wonderfully clinical Diogo Jota and an unpredictable whirlwind of a centre-forward in Darwin Nunez.
Of course, even without Stones and Ake, City still boast plenty of centre-back quality in Ruben Dias, Manuel Akanji and Josko Gvardiol.
We never wish to see players from any team getting injured, but it’s certainly fair to say that Liverpool’s prospects of winning at the Etihad would increase if the home side were still missing two of their key defenders for the 25 November showdown.
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