Man City could reportedly be without defender Aymeric Laporte for their Community Shield clash with Liverpool this weekend.
The two sides meet at Wembley on Sunday in the season opener, and although the game has been downplayed over the years, the Premier League title rivals will surely be itching to get off to a positive start.
SEE MORE: Manchester City close in on second major summer signing with €50m deal in the works
It’s also another opportunity to win a trophy, and so in terms of a morale boost and potentially dealing an early setback to a direct rival, many would argue that this clash in particular carries more weight.
With that in mind, both Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp would hope to be at full strength for the encounter, but it appears as though the former has an injury headache on his hands.
As per the tweet below, it has been suggested that Laporte could be a doubt to feature after picking up a knock, and so it remains to be seen whether or not he is able to recover in time.
City saw influential stalwart Vincent Kompany move on this summer, and so with no signings to address that void, it will be down to the likes of Laporte, Nicolas Otamendi and John Stones to keep a solid backline in place.
However, it appears as though Laporte could be in danger of missing the Liverpool clash, while it’s unclear if he will be able to recover in time for the Premier League opener against West Ham United a week later.
Guardiola will hope for positive news over the next 48 hours as Laporte was crucial in their success last year, but the Spanish tactician will also want to avoid taking any risks and seeing him sidelined for longer if he aggravates the problem.
Laporte’s a doubt for the Community Shield with – what has been described to me as – a knock. No word on West Ham availability yet, he’s having treatment on it
— Sam Lee (@SamLee) August 1, 2019
