Manchester City will face Arsenal when they return to the Premier League on Saturday night and they will be without Kevin De Bruyne
Manchester City return to the Premier League on Saturday night, welcoming Arsenal to the Etihad
Pep Guardiola is hoping to see a big reaction from his side as City have failed to win in their last two league outings, having been hammered 5-2 by Leicester City and then drawn 1-1 with Leeds United before the international break
It won’t be an easy game against the Gunners, as manager Mikel Arteta had his former club number when the two teams last met in the FA Cup semi-final last season – winning Game 2 -0
The Blues will also be without Kevin De Bruyne, Guardiola confirmed in his pre-match press conference, after the brilliant Belgian injured himself against England on an international mission
« Unfortunately Kevin is out but the rest of the players are coming back well » said Guardiola « I don’t think it’s a lot but the next games he will be out We will see day by day »
The bench should give you some indication of the pecking order of the center-back today Dias and Laporte should be the first choice, but then you have Ake, Garcia, Stones and Harwood-Bellis pushing for what will probably be two places on the bench Ake is a certain, which means three are vying for fourth place at center-back
Aside from Kevin De Bruyne, we could see most of Pep Guardiola’s starting XI in action today Injury issues are much better than before the international break which also gave much needed playing time to players like Bernardo and Joao Cancelo It will be interesting to see who plays left-back, defensive midfielder and wings, especially with most of Guardiola’s senior players available for the first time this season.
It will be interesting to see if Keiran Tierney will be cleared to play for Arsenal, or if he will be forced to continue to self-isolate He lined up to the left of a full three last time around, so if he doesn’t play Mikel Arteta will likely have to play David Luiz and Rob Holding And the last time Luiz came to the Etihad, he was City’s Man of the Match!
City’s decision to play midfielder in Kevin De Buyne’s absence will take on a different dynamic with Thomas Partey potentially making his Arsenal debut Mikel Arteta has toughened his midfielder since the last time they took faced City, so Pep Guardiola has to decide whether to match that physicality or try to play with the Gunners
I think eight members of the City squad choose each other, given that Laporte, Mendy, Fernandinho, Gundogan, Foden and Aguero all trained two weeks without a game Ederson is a sure thing, especially after his unnecessary trip to Brazil to sit on their bench, while Raheem Sterling should start if he’s in good shape There is still room for Guardiola to create some surprises in this roster. p>
Pep Guardiola welcomes former City coach Mikel Arteta back to Etihad in program notes
« Today we welcome Arsenal to the Etihad for what should be a great football game
« I would like to extend a warm welcome to Mikel Arteta, a man who played an important role in our success while he was my assistant. I will always be grateful to him for the work he did here, a period in during which he demonstrated impressive dedication, hard work and knowledge of the game
« I’m not surprised with his performances at Arsenal They have made fantastic progress in just 10 months
« For managers, these games are the ultimate test, and I can’t wait for the game to kick off »
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Based on their first three league games, City need to improve two areas today: capitalizing when they’re at their best and extending the periods when they’re at their best They took the lead in each of the three games, but lost five points from winning positions
In his program notes for today’s game, Pep Guardiola shared his thoughts on City’s transfer activities
« Since I had the last chance to speak to you, the transfer window is closed I am delighted with the work we have done and I want to thank all the club members for their support
« Nathan Ake has significant Premier League experience, is strong, fast, good in the air and can play multiple roles He brings real quality to our team and strengthens my options at the back
« Ferran Torres is a young player with so much potential We have already seen that he has fast feet and a really sharp footballing brain. And, honestly, for a player who is only 20 years old, his work ethic so far has been amazing
« Our new goalkeeper, Zack Steffen, has performed very well in both of our Carabao Cup games. In terms of style, he’s exactly the kind of ‘goalkeeper we need here at City
« It was great to welcome Ruben but, of course, it meant saying goodbye to Nico, a person I admire a lot A fighter, a quality defender and a top professional, I cannot say enough thank him for his contribution during my stay here I will miss him, and I know the whole team feels the same
« We will also miss David Silva, Claudio Bravo and Leroy Sane We wish them all the best for their new adventures »
Liverpool’s controversial Everton draw means City can be on par with the champions if they can win their two games in hand against Jurgen’s men Klopp City would still be three points behind current leaders at Everton, but they’d rather chase them than Liverpool This makes today’s game even more important, with City having a rare chance to capitalize on a Liverpool mistake
Raheem Sterling feels fit to play today, as does Sergio Aguero Both are big stimulants for Pep Guardiola as he seeks to control the injury situation But with De Bruyne becoming the last to suffer from a accumulation of matches and with a full match list, the manager will have to think carefully about how quickly he wants to bring back two of his key men Sterling seems the obvious choice to lead the line if Aguero isn’t quite fit for it, especially as Aguero usually needs a bit of time to get back into a match rhythm
Manchester City are back in the Premier League as they host Arsenal at the Etihad tonight
The Blues lost their last game against Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-finals and started the season slowly – winning one, drawing and losing one of their first three league games
Nonetheless, City are unbeaten in their last nine league games against Arsenal, scoring at least twice in those nine games. Arsenal have lost their last six league games to the Blues, conceding three goals in five of those clashes
Pep Guardiola has confirmed that Kevin De Bruyne will be sidelined with injury, but gave a positive update on Sergio Aguero who could play after four months of injury absence
Arteta could debut Thomas Partey, who signed from Atletico Madrid on deadline day
Kevin De Bruyne will miss Manchester City’s Premier League clash with Arsenal after returning from international duty with injury
Pep Guardiola expects De Bruyne to be out for « the next few games » and, although he is convinced that the muscle injury is only minor, he could not set a specific deadline for his return
De Bruyne came out after 73 minutes after Belgium’s Nations League defeat to England at Wembley last weekend and his injury is serious enough to put him on the sidelines this weekend at least
Ahead of tonight’s game, the youngsters are in action and are currently scoreless at Misslesbrough
Manchester City will be without Kevin De Bruyne for Saturday’s game against Arsenal, but are set to start signing Ruben Dias’ record after his debut against Leeds last time around
City have made their worst start to the league season since 2010/11 – winning a, a draw and losing one of their first three games – and Pep Guardiola has confirmed that De Bruyne will miss the game against the men of Mikel Arteta after supporting a muscle damage in international service with Belgium
He said: « Unfortunately Kevin is absent but the rest of the players are coming back well I don’t think it is much but the next matches he will be released We will see day by day »
Good news! The striker had not withdrawn from the England squad before the international break due to the injury
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