- City face Newcastle on Saturday in crucial game in race for European football
- One of their recent regular starters is now set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines
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Manchester City have been dealt a defensive injury blow ahead of their clash with Newcastle this weekend.
City face the Magpies in a crunch clash that could go a long way to deciding whether they qualify for next season’s Champions League after what has been a difficult campaign for Pep Guardiola’s side.
It has been seen by many that their struggles began when Ballon d’Or winner Rodri suffered an ACL injury late last year, while the likes of Jack Grealish and John Stones have also missed games.
Against Real Madrid on Tuesday, it seemed as though Guardiola was getting several of his first-choice team back, with both Grealish and Stones fit, as well as the likes of Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji.
But Guardiola revealed on Friday that one of his players is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines as they suffered a muscular injury, which will require surgery.
It is Akanji who will endure up to 10 weeks out injured, Guardiola has revealed, with the minimum timeframe for a return given as eight weeks.
A Manchester City first-team star is facing up to 10 weeks out after suffering a recent injury
Manuel Akanji was forced off with an injury against Real Madrid in the Champions League
He had been a regular in the team in recent weeks, filling in at right back against Madrid
Pep Guardiola must now find a solution to the issue with others returning from injury
Akanji had enjoyed a solid run after an injury in December, starting City’s last eight games in the Premier League and last three in the Champions League.
He, though, was taken off at half time at the Etihad on Tuesday, having gone down in the first half and received treatment.
Akanji had been filling in at right back after Kyle Walker left in January for AC Milan, with Matheus Nunes being used there in recent times. Nunes and Rico Lewis are options for the clash with Newcastle.
Elsewhere, meanwhile, Guardiola revealed that Gonzalez remains a doubt having suffered injury since arriving from Porto on deadline day.
Guardiola said of the midfielder: ‘It wasn’t a difficult start, he was just injured. A difficult start is when you play bad, and that was not the case [vs Leyton Orient].
‘But of course it was a setback; he had a little pain and for [Real] Madrid he was not fully, fully-fit. Day by day he’s getting better and we will assess in a few hours.’
On Grealish, meanwhile, he added: ‘I don’t know if he’ll be ready tomorrow. We will see and assess in the next hours.’
