Manchester City will be without Kevin De Bruyne and Aymeric Laporte for Wednesday night’s Champions League knockout tie against RB Leipzig.
Both players are suffering from illness with manager Pep Guardiola confirming their absence from the Citizens’ important first-leg away tie during his pre-match press conference on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters, as quoted by the Express, the Spaniard said: “It is what is during the season, unfortunately. He [De Bruyne] didn’t feel good right after the game with Forest on Sunday. Yesterday, Aymre [Laporte] didn’t feel good. It happens sometimes.”
Looking further ahead than his side’s mid-week European clash, Guardiola, when asked if he thinks both players will recover in time to face Bournemouth in the Premier League on the weekend, the 52-year-old added: “I don’t know.”
READ MORE: Exclusive: Manchester United & Newcastle tracking Bundesliga star ahead of potential transfer battle
Although Man City’s squad is arguably the deepest in world football, replacing a player, particularly De Bruyne, is virtually impossible, and with the club trying to chase down table-toppers Arsenal, losing the Belgium international is far from ideal, so fans will be keeping everything crossed that their star midfielder can recover in time to play the Cherries.
Man City’s league match against Bournemouth, which is set to take place at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday, is set to kick off at 5.30 p.m (UK time) and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports.