GOOD NEWS FOR CHELSEA: Pep Guardiola confirms double Man City injury blow ahead of Chelsea
Manchester City have been handed a double injury blow ahead of their clash with Chelsea.
Manchester City have suffered a double injury blow ahead of their Premier League clash with Chelsea this weekend. City lost ground in the title race on New Year’s Day after failing to find a way past a resolute Sunderland side, drawing 0-0.
City are now four points behind Arsenal in the title race, although things can change quickly given the busy schedule at this time of year. For City, they face Chelsea as soon as this Sunday ahead of taking on Brighton in mid-week.
That kind of busy schedule will continue with weekend and mid-week football continuing until mid-February, although that includes the Carabao Cup, FA Cup and Champions League.
City will want a fit squad for that busy run, but they have suffered two fresh blows ahead of this weekend’s clash with Chelsea. Nico Gonzalez was forced off with an injury against Sunderland, and he was followed by Savinho, who also picked up an issue.
Guardiola did not comment on the Gonzalez injury, which could be a positive for City, but he said of Savinho: “It doesn’t look good.” Naturally, both players will need to be assessed, but it is not a stretch to say Savinho is likely to miss the Chelsea game this weekend.
The Blues will feel they will take any help they can get after a disruptive start to the New Year following the sacking of Enzo Maresca on New Year’s Day. Chelsea are on course to go into that City clash without a full-time manager, and it’s unclear how the players have responded to Maresca being sacked.
Guardiola on City shortcomings
Speaking about City’s draw with Sunderland after the game, Guardiola said: “The amount of chances we missed in the six-yard box, not difficult ones, we could not convert. We created enough chances. We didn’t do what we talked about in the first half but we played good in the second half. The commitment, the desire, the first half was different.
“The two chances from Savinho in the second half, Jeremy (Doku), Josko (Gvardiol), Phil (Foden) and Erling (Haaland). We had a lot but unfortunately we could not do it.”
