Manchester City is preparing for the match against Brighton after three consecutive defeats between the Carabao Cup, Premier League and Champions League (against Tottenham, Bournemouth and Sporting CP respectively), but Pep Guardiola does not recover any of the injured. The Spanish coach announced it today in a press conference: “No, there is no good news regarding the injured. We have the same players available as we had in Lisbon. The players who traveled with us are still fine.”
The Manchester team, therefore, will have to do without Jack Grealish, Rúben Dias and John Stones. Rodri and Oscar Bobb also remain unavailable with long-term knee and leg injuries respectively. Grealish was surprisingly called up to represent England during the November international break, despite the last time he played for City on 20 October. When asked about the decision, Guardiola replied: “It’s a question for the England manager, I can’t answer it.”
A handful of previously injured players appeared for City in midweek, including Savinho, Jérémy Doku, Kevin De Bruyne and Manuel Akanji. Kyle Walker remained on the bench as an unused substitute, but the 34-year-old played 90 minutes against Bournemouth last weekend. No matter who is on the field in Saturday’s match, Guardiola will expect a response from his team against a team that has not won in its last three matches. City are currently second in the Premier League table, trailing Liverpool by two points.