Pep Guardiola heading for Manchester derby headache as injuries pile up

Manchester City are facing an injury crisis ahead of this weekend’s 197th Manchester derby.

Pep Guardiola’s side host Ruben Amorim’s men at the Etihad Stadium in what promises to be a blockbuster occasion, as one of football’s greatest rivalries resumes in the north-west.

But do the Red Devils have something of an upper hand, given City’s injury woes? FourFourTwo takes a deeper look at the problems surrounding the blue half of the city…

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Manchester City have serious injury problems heading into Manchester United clash

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has a whole host of players on the sidelines (Image credit: Getty Images)

To begin, England defender John Stones was recently sent home from the Three Lions’ September camp after complaining of a minor muscle injury. It remains to be seen just how bad that problem is for the City and whether he will feature against Manchester United this weekend.

“He came with minor issues and didn’t progress as we thought and hoped he would, so he left camp this morning,” said Thomas Tuchel when asked about Stones’ omission from England’s two internationals against Andorra and Serbia.

John Stones has struggled with more injury problems at the start of the new season (Image credit: Getty Images)

Furthermore, Phil Foden and Rayan Cherki are doubts, with the pair having sustained respective ankle and foot injuries in recent weeks. Guardiola is expected to be asked about his returning players in his pre-match press conference this week, but another forward is also out of the running to feature.

Omar Marmoush had to be withdrawn on a stretcher during Egypt’s clash with Burkina Faso this week, and it has already been made public that he will face an extended period on the sidelines.

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“Initial results on a scan performed in Egypt indicate he will not be available for the Manchester derby on Sunday, and he will now return to Manchester for more assessment and to begin his rehabilitation,” said a statement made by Cityzens on Wednesday.

Elsewhere, Mateo Kovacic, Josko Gvardiol, Marcus Bettinelli and Kalvin Phillips are also doubts, whilst updates are expected on Savinho, Abdukodir Khusanov, Rico Lewis and Nico O’Reilly before the clash with Amorim’s side.

Erling Haaland scored five goals for Norway this week and is fine form (Image credit: Getty Images)

The good news is goal machine Erling Haaland scored five times as Norway thrashed Moldova 11-1 on Tuesday, so Manchester United will still have their work cut out dealing with the talented Premier League talisman.

In FourFourTwo‘s view, the Red Devils will be confident heading into Sunday’s game at the Etihad Stadium, especially given Amad’s late heroics in their last Premier League meeting back in December.