Despite suffering several injuries over the international break, Manchester City might yet be able to outperform Liverpool.
Even before this rash of injuries over the international break, Manchester City had concerns about the depth of their squad.
Due to injuries to Kevin De Bruyne, Sergio Gomez, and John Stones, along with Nathan Ake’s injury, Pep Guardiola was only able to name eight substitutes against Chelsea, two of which were goalkeepers. Although the manager later stated that he still prefers to work with a small team, any secret expectations that things would get better were dashed when they became noticeably worse.
After suffering injuries during the Chelsea match, Ederson and Mateo Kovacic were unable to reunite with their national teams. Matheus Nunes, Rodri, and Erling Haaland also had injuries that prevented them from playing for their countries.
Any club that only has 20 players in total would find it difficult to be without eight outfield players. Should any of them fail to recuperate in time for Liverpool, Guardiola will be forced to start a team that is without 40% of its outfield players and their first-choice goalkeeper.
The starting eleven for City might still be Ortega, Walker, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol, Phillips, Silva, Foden, Grealish, Doku, and Alvarez in spite of everything. Although it’s not the finest, it would undoubtedly be rivalry.
It’s safe to think Rodri can participate because he’s not only returned to fitness but was healthy enough to start Spain’s second game. Early rumblings about Haaland point to a good chance of playing this weekend, and Ederson hasn’t missed a City match due to injury in four years (ironically, right before City hosted Liverpool at Anfield).
