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Pep Guardiola has been talking ahead of the Premier League match against Newcastle United, with a number of key Manchester City players now set to miss.
Saturday’s game will see the visitors without an ‘irreplaceable’ player as well as others.
The Man City boss giving an update on the Rodri situation.
The midfielder forced off on Sunday during the 2-2 draw with Arsenal, thanks to a freak knee injury.
Since joining Man City from Atletico Madrid in 2019, they have lost just 11 percent of the matches Rodri (pictured scoring against Newcastle United above) has featured in, compared to 24% without the Spaniard.
Pep Guardiola saying about his ‘irreplaceable’ star man:
“Still we don’t have the definitive diagnosis but he will be out for a long time.
“But there are some opinions that maybe it will be less than we expected. One doctor says big, big injury, one not so much.
“We are waiting for the last phone calls for what definitely he has and the type of surgery he has to get.
“We expect that tonight (Tuesday), tomorrow (Wednesday) we will know exactly.
“When a team doesn’t play with the best midfielder in the world for a long, long time, it is a big blow.
“He is irreplaceable but I will find a solution…
“When you have one player who is irreplaceable, as a team we have to find a solution.”
At least three other Manchester City players also look certain to miss.
Nathan Ake was carried off on a stretcher whilst on international duty earlier this month and looks certain to miss the visit to Tyneside, with what appears to be a hamstring problem. Like Rodri, Ake played the full match when Man City won at St James’ Park in January.
That late late 3-2 victory after having been 2-1 down, saw Oscar Bobb came off the bench on 82 minutes and nine minutes later scored a superb winner, is still recovering from a broken leg suffered in pre-season, so definitely won’t be scoring the winner against Newcastle United this time.
Another arguably ‘irreplaceable’ player set to miss the Newcastle United match is Kevin De Bruyne. He was injured last week against Inter Milan and watched the Arsenal match from the sidelines.
The midfielder’s thigh injury isn’t thought to be long-term but he isn’t expected to be back until sometime in October.
The same as the other three Manchester City players listed above, Kevin De Bruyne was missing from the Man City team/squad that won 2-1 last night against Watford in the Carabao Cup.
Newcastle United upcoming match schedule, confirmed to end of November:
Saturday 28 September 2024 – Newcastle v Man City (12.30 pm) TNT Sports
Tuesday 1 October 2024 – AFC Wimbledon v Newcastle (7.45pm) Sky Sports+ (To be played at St James’ Park)
Saturday 5 October – Everton v Newcastle (5.30pm) Sky Sports
Saturday 19 October – Newcastle v Brighton (3pm)
Sunday 27 October – Chelsea v Newcastle (2pm) Sky Sports
Saturday 2 November – Newcastle v Arsenal (12.30pm) TNT Sports
Sunday 10 November – Forest v Newcastle (2pm) Sky Sports
Monday 25 November – Newcastle v West Ham (8pm) Sky Sports
Saturday 30 November – Crystal Palace v Newcastle

 
