(Football news) Pep Guardiola has claimed that Manchester City are currently facing an “emergency” due to injuries, suspensions and illness vastly affecting his team selection ahead of their Premier League match against Aston Villa. The likes of Jack Grealish and Phil Foden have been out injured in recent games while Kevin De Bruyne has been isolated due to testing positive for COVID-19.
To add to their woes, Aymeric Laporte collected his fifth booking of the season against West Ham last Sunday and will miss the Aston Villa game due to suspension. Ferran Torres is a long term absentee for Manchester City as the Spaniard is currently recovering from a foot/ankle injury and is expected to be out for the remainder of the year. With Benjamin Mendy in prison and Liam Delap recovering from injury, Guardiola could have as many as seven players unavailable ahead of the Premier League match.
Having sustained a knock on international duty, Jack Grealish has already missed out on City’s last three matches while Phil Foden has not featured in the last two. The duo are doubtful against Aston Villa and their appearance is subject to passing a fitness test while Kevin De Bruyne is back in the squad but needs time to regain fitness after recovering from Coronavirus.
With fixtures coming thick and fast in the festive season, Pep Guardiola has said that his team cannot afford more injuries if they want to remain in the title race. The Spaniard said “We are in an emergency for the intensity of the squad. We have few people. I never complain, I never miss the players who cannot play for any reason and I trust a lot the players. When one is out, another one comes in. But to sustain it in December – the toughest month of the year – the fact is we are in trouble because we have few players. We have just 15 or 14 players and we are in a difficult position because a lot of players play a lot of minutes."
Speaking about De Bruyne, Pep Guardiola said “Kevin is back but he needs time to be fit. People who have had Covid explain that it's draining, tiring and takes time. He is a player who needs to be fit for his top form, or he cannot show it.” The reigning champions are just one point behind Chelsea and will look to gain maximum points from their upcoming fixtures to regain the top spot heading into the new year.
