Manchester City injury latest ahead of the Champions League clash with Villarreal and a Premier League trip to Aston Villa
Manchester City will be without injured pair Rodri and Abdukodir Khusanov for their Champions League clash with Villarreal on Tuesday night.
The Blues are unbeaten in eight games in all competitions having beaten Everton 2-0 in the Premier League on Saturday.
That lifted Pep Guardiola’s side into second spot in the table, three points behind leaders Arsenal. City will hope to maintain their momentum when they return to European football against a Villarreal team who drew 2-2 with Real Betis in La Liga on Saturday. Here’s the latest injury news ahead of the game.
Rodri
Injury: Hamstring
Rodri had hoped to be fit for the Premier League game with Everton on Saturday, having sat out international duty to try and recover from the hamstring injury that he felt in the opening minutes against Brentford earlier this month. The Spaniard did not think the issue was big at the time, but the Blues are having to be cautious with his return.
Guardiola confirmed after the match with Everton that he will not be risked for upcoming games with Villarreal and Aston Villa, either.
“It’s not long, but it’s muscular and you have to be careful,” the City boss said. “We’ve tried so many times, we’ve tried to not take a risk, but we have not been able to do that. So we will see.”
Potential return date: Swansea (A) October 29
Nico O’Reilly
The left-back walked out of the Etihad on Saturday with a bandage on his knee, but Guardiola hopes that it is not a big problem as City prepare to face Villarreal for their Champions League game on Tuesday.
“I think it was a knock. We’ll see. Hopefully it will not be dangerous,” said Guardiola.
Potential return date: Villarreal (A) October 21
Abdukodir Khusanov
Injury: Unknown
The Uzbekistan international had made the right back spot his own but he was forced off injured at half time in the draw with Arsenal and has yet to return to training.
Potential return date: Aston Villa (A) October 26
Rayan Ait-Nouri
Injury: Ankle
Ait-Nouri suffered an ankle injury in the early stages of his home debut against Tottenham and while he then featured subsequently against Brighton, he has not played for City since.
The Algerian has returned to training and Guardiola said the full back was feeling much better but he was not in the squad against Everton.
Potential return date: Aston Villa (A) October 26
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