Man City have been dealt more bad injury news as Rodri and Oleksandr Zinchenko are said to be set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines after setbacks this week.
The Ukrainian international picked up a knee problem ahead of the Champions League clash with Atalanta on Tuesday night, while Rodri was forced off in the first half after sustaining a hamstring injury.
Given the injury problems in defence that Pep Guardiola has already been dealing with so far this season, the last thing he needed was to hear that the City duo were set to be ruled out for a lengthy period of time.
Unfortunately for the Spanish tactician, The Mirror report that Zinchenko is expected to be ruled out for up to six weeks while Rodri could be sidelined for four weeks.
What that means rather importantly is that the pair will miss the clash with Liverpool at Anfield on November 10, as well as a string of other crucial games.
That is the last thing that Guardiola needed given his side can’t afford any more slip-ups having fallen six points adrift of Liverpool in the Premier League title race after nine games.
While there is still a long way to go and anything can happen to change things in their favour, Man City have been blighted by bad luck with injuries so far this campaign and it could easily derail their pursuit of more major trophies this season if they don’t clear up.
First up for Man City is the visit of Aston Villa to the Etihad on Saturday, and they’ll hope that despite all the injury setbacks that they’re suffering currently, they’ll have enough quality in the squad to cope to see off Dean Smith’s side and continue their winning run for as long as possible.