Pep Guardiola has confirmed that Kevin de Bruyne may well be fit in time to feature in Manchester City’s big game against Arsenal on Sunday.
The Citizens and Gunners meet at the Etihad in a match that is likely to have a huge impact on the Premier League title race even at this early stage of the season.
Arsenal are struggling with injury issues, with captain Martin Odegaard sidelined for the next eight weeks, but City were given a scare of their own earlier this week.
De Bruyne picked up a knock during the Champions League draw with Inter Milan on Wednesday night and had to be subbed off at half-time.
Reports suggested that the key attacking midfielder would miss the Arsenal game but Guardiola has now suggested that he might be available.
‘He feels today a little bit better, but not yet. Days off and tomorrow is training and we will see,’ the manager said in his pre-match press conference on Friday.
‘He could be [involved].’
Should De Bruyne not be fit in time to start or even make the bench, Ilkay Gundogan would seem his most likely replacement in the starting XI, having come on for the Belgian in the goalless draw with Inter.
In other injury news, Oscar Bobb and Nathan Ake remain sidelined with long-term issues.
Having won their opening four league games, City sit two points above Arsenal in the table and they have a slight advantage going into Sunday’s clash having had an extra game to recover.
The Gunners also kicked off their Champions League campaign with a 0-0 draw against Atalanta but did so on Thursday night and away from home.
Guardiola admits: ‘It’s an advantage for Man City.
‘But I’m going to make a list in the last eight years how many times we had this disadvantage against tough opponents, when we had less days of recovery. I have a huge list to show you!’
.
.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.