Kevin De Bruyne is set to miss Manchester City’s clash with Arsenal on Sunday (Shutterstock)
Manchester City will be without Kevin de Bruyne for their Premier League clash against Arsenal this weekend, according to reports.
De Bruyne picked up a knock in City’s goalless draw against Inter in the Champions League on Wednesday evening and was forced off at half time.
Speaking after City’s stalemate, Pep Guardiola confirmed that De Bruyne would be assessed by team doctors ahead of their match against Arsenal on Sunday.
However, The Mirror reports that City are unwilling to risk De Bruyne for their game against Mikel Arteta’s side, meaning that the midfielder will be sidelined at the Etihad Stadium this weekend.
The report adds that De Bruyne’s injury is not believed to be a long-term concern.
Kevin De Bruyne was forced off in Manchester City’s draw with Inter in the Champions League (AP)
Meanwhile, Guardiola insists he has no concerns over the lack of playing time with Rodri, Phil Foden and Ilkay Gundogan ahead of City’s clash with Arsenal.
Rodri was handed his first start of the season in the draw with Inter on Wednesday, while both Foden and Gundogan were brought on as half-time substitutes.
‘We don’t control the schedule, the calendar, the Champions League draw we play Inter at home and now Arsenal are there. No complaints at all, it is what it is,’ Guardiola said.
‘Players have behaved really well so far this season, with the Community Shield we had a lot of problems in that game but in the Premier League we behave really good, today [against Inter] again we played to win, we made a good performance, we’d love to win and create more chances but I give a lot of credit to them, it’s an exceptional team, I knew it years ago, when we face Italian teams they are so difficult.’
Asked if Sunday’s match against Arsenal will provide a similar test to the performance Inter delivered against City, Guardiola said: ‘I don’t know, I don’t know the idea of Mikel of how they’re going to play. I’ll have to read it and adapt it.
‘But it’s another unbelievable team, they defend really well, they don’t concede chances, they don’t concede goals, they are really good in many aspects, they control everything.
‘They’ve been the biggest challenge, title contenders the last two seasons they are there and they will be there for many years because they create a deeper squad, a young team.
‘So it’s another good test but we are in September, so I like to see the team, many things we are better than the past, even better than the past how we’ve done it, we’ll see what happens on Sunday.’
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