Manchester City are set to be without Ilkay Gundogan for their Premier League clash with Everton but Pep Guardiola has revealed that Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne have returned to full training.
Gundogan, who was named the Premier League Player of the Month for January, limped out of Saturday’s victory over Tottenham with a slight groin strain.
Guardiola hopes that the Germany international will not be out for long, while De Bruyne has recovered from the hamstring injury which ruled him out for the last month.
What was said?
“Gundo is much better but I don't think he will be available for tomorrow. The rest of the players are okay except Nathan Ake,” Guardiola said at his pre-match press conference.
Aguero had knee surgery in June and had Covid-19 earlier this year and, asked if he would start, Guardiola said: “Sergio has been injured for a year, so cannot start from the beginning but is ready to come back. He was on the bench for the last game and will be again. When he can return he will do.”
On De Bruyne, he added: “Getting better, really getting better. Today he did all the training with the group. He's much better.”
Ruben Dias was also a substitute for the Spurs victory after having a fever but Guardiola confirmed that he is in contention to face the Toffees.
Everton's injury problems
Carlo Ancelotti will be without top scorer Dominic Calvert-Lewin after the striker picked up a hamstring injury in the FA Cup victory over Chelsea last Wednesday.
However, the Everton manager revealed that James Rodriguez, Jordan Pickford and Allan are all in consideration after missing recent games through injury.
Why is the game being played in a Champions League week
City are facing a difficult fixture backlog because of their runs to the Carabao Cup final and FA Cup quarter-finals, meaning they had to play this match during a Champions League week.
This clash was originally supposed to go ahead on December 28 but was called off just four hours before kick-off after a Covid-19 outbreak at City.
A victory would see City move 10 points clear of second-placed Manchester United, while an Everton win would move them to within two points of a Champions League place with a game in hand.
Further reading
- Gundogan wants to follow Klopp’s and Pep into coaching
- Solskjaer: We won’t let City run away with the title
