According to the latest Manchester City injury news update released by Pep Guardiola, Manchester City’s injury concerns remain unrelenting as they head into this weekend’s Premier League encounter against relegation-threatened Wolverhampton Wanderers according to Pep Guardiola’s latest squad update.
The Cityzens are currently dealing with a defensive injury crisis with the likes of Josko Gvardiol, John Stones and Ruben Dias all sidelined with varying fitness setbacks.
Gvardiol suffered a tibial fracture in Manchester City’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea at the turn of the year and is now embroiled in a tough battle to recover before the end of the season.
Prior to his injury, the Croatia international was one of the mainstays of Guardiola’s backline. He featured 16 times in the Premier League and registered four goal contributions (2G, 2A).
Meanwhile, Stones is still nursing a thigh injury that has kept him out of contention since the start of December. As for Dias, the Portuguese is another injury casualty from that Chelsea game.
He pulled his hamstring in that particular encounter and is expected to spend a minimum of six weeks on the sidelines, meaning he also won’t be available for some of City’s games in February.
In the middle of the park, Manchester City face uncertainties regarding the potential availability of Matteo Kovacic, Nico Gonzalez and Matheus Nunes, who is capable of putting in a shift at right-back as we have so often seen him do in the last couple of seasons.
Kovacic has been restricted to just one appearance each in the Premier League and Champions League after undergoing a surgery on his Achilles over the summer. The Croatian is currently dealing with an ankle problem and may not return before the end of the season.
Gonzalez has had to sit out City’s last two games with an unspecified injury. He will need to undergo some assessments before he’s cleared for a return against Wolves, meanwhile, Nunes remains a doubt after also missing the last couple of games due to illness.
Upfront, Guardiola will have to make do without Savinho and Oscar Bobb. Savinho has been out since New Year’s day after picking up a knock against Sunderland while Bobb is on the sidelines with a hamstring setback.
Fortunately, the Spanish tactician is well covered in that department with the likes of Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku, Antoine Semenyo and Phil Foden at his disposal.
New winter signing Marc Guehi will also be in contention for his Etihad debut, after joining Man City from Crystal Palace for £20 million. This England international’s addition will definitely bring some much-needed stability to City’s already depleted backline.
City are going through a rough patch at the moment, with Tuesday night’s defeat to Bodo Glimt in the Champions League adding to the misery of that disappointing Manchester derby defeat at Old Trafford last Saturday.
They will be eager to return to winning ways against Wolves, and potentially keep pressure on league leaders Arsenal, who face a tough clash against Manchester United on Sunday.
