Man City Team News: Injuries, suspensions and line-up vs Arsenal

Sam Lee

Man City Team News: Injuries, suspensions and line-up vs Arsenal image

Manchester City could be without Raheem Sterling as they try to claim the first piece of silverware of the Pep Guardiola era.

Fabian Delph will not be available for Sunday's Carabao Cup final, though Gabriel Jesus could return from a knee injury which has kept him out for more than six weeks.


MAN CITY INJURIES


Sterling suffered a muscle problem in the Champions League game against Basel which kept him out of Monday's shock defeat at Wigan, and Guardiola says he does not know if the winger will be ready for Sunday.

Jesus returned to training on Friday, February 16 and he could be in line to make Guardiola's match day squad.

Only Benjamin Mendy remains on the sidelines, though he could be back in the next month or so.

City will be without either of their first-choice left-backs for the next three matches, however, as Delph will miss three games through suspension.

Gabriel Jesus Pep Guardiola Manchester United Manchester City Premier League 10122017


MAN CITY SUSPENSIONS


Delph will miss Sunday's game as well as Thursday's clash at the Emirates Stadium and next Sunday's meeting with Chelsea as a result of his red card against Wigan.


MAN CITY POTENTIAL STARTING LINE-UP


If Sterling is not fit it is likely Bernardo Silva will take his spot on the right-hand side.

Guardiola will also have to decide who plays left-back given Mendy's injury and Delph's ban. Danilo has tended to play in games with more defensive demands, while Oleksandar Zinchenko has tended to play at home in matches City are expected to dominate. Guardiola may err on the side of caution and use Danilo.

There are other selection considerations for Guardiola, too. John Stones did not look entirely comfortable against Wigan and in fact he has struggled slightly since returning from injury in January. Aymeric Laporte will be trusted to play in City's biggest matches this season and it would be no surprise if he started on Sunday. Nicolas Otamendi was rested on Monday and is likely to come back into the side.

Claudio Bravo has played all of City's Carabao Cup matches and he will start on Sunday, with Ederson on the bench.

Man City possible XI


ARSENAL TEAM NEWS


Arsene Wenger says Arsenal have no injuries for Sunday's game. There had been concerns over Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Ozil but Wenger believes both will be fit.

"I don’t know what kind of state [Alex] Iwobi is in, we will know that today [Friday] - but overall we have no injuries.

"I’ll make a decision on Aaron Ramsey on Saturday, he looks to be available but he’ll have another test today. So we will know more about it tomorrow [Saturday]."

On Ozil, the Frenchman added: "He had a good session yesterday [Thursday] which he absorbed well. We’ll have to see how he responds to it, but I think he will be alright."


OPTA MATCH FACTS


  • Arsenal have won just two of their last 11 Premier League meetings with Manchester City, drawing five and losing four.
     
  • Arsenal have recorded just two victories in their last 16 Premier League matches against fellow ‘big six’ teams (D6 L8). They beat Spurs in November 2017 and Man Utd in May 2017.
  • The Gunners have failed to keep a clean sheet in each of their last nine Premier League matches – they last went 10 without a shutout in the top-flight back in February 2002 (11 games).

TV COVERAGE & KICK-OFF TIME


Kick off is 16:30 GMT (11:30 ET) on Sunday, February 25, and the game will be shown on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom. It will be shown on ESPN in the United States, and on various channels around the world, details of which can be found here .

Sam Lee

Sam Lee Photo