Pep Guardiola confirms four Manchester City stars will miss Southampton match

Pep Guardiola has confirmed that Kevin De Bruyne, Kyle Walker, Jeremy Doku and Jack Grealish volition each beryllium absent for Manchester City’s clash with Southampton.

Two-time Premier League Player of the Season, De Bruyne, came disconnected with a groin wounded midway done City’s goalless gully with Inter Milan past period and has missed the club’s past 7 games successful each competitions.

Walker, meanwhile, has been forced to beryllium retired City’s past 2 matches owed to a genu occupation and wingers Doku and Grealish are some retired with insignificant knocks.

It leaves Guardiola with a fig of enactment dilemmas up of the weekend’s contention betwixt second-placed City and second-bottom Southampton, though the champions are blessed with spot successful extent that astir different clubs could lone imagination of.

Tomorrow’s hosts participate the clash arsenic the overwhelming favourites to unafraid victory, with 19 points separating the 2 teams astatine this aboriginal signifier of the 2024/25 campaign.

There had been immoderate hopes that immoderate oregon each of City’s absentees could beryllium successful enactment to marque their returns astatine the Etihad but Guardiola

Asked whether De Bruyne oregon Walker could beryllium involved, Guardiola told reporters: ‘No, not yet.’

Pressed for a day connected De Bruyne’s imaginable return, Guardiola replied: ‘I don’t know.

‘Of course, I similar to person each of the squad with the magnitude of games but it is what it is.

‘Hopefully helium comes backmost soon but I don’t cognize yet. I would similar to archer you but I don’t know.’

On Doku and Grealish’s chances of featuring, the Spaniard bluntly responded: ‘No.’

Despite Southampton’s lowly presumption successful the table, Guardiola has large admiration for Russell Martin and believes his other fig volition bask occurrence successful the future.

‘He volition person success. When this happens, ever you person occurrence sooner oregon later,’ the Catalan added.

‘You conscionable person to alteration a batch your ideas oregon your thoughts. Normally, erstwhile you alteration your ideas oregon your thoughts, I’m not saying to set something, it’s not astir playing 4 astatine the backmost oregon 5 astatine the back. That is not my point.

‘If you commencement to alteration your thoughts for the results past the players volition notice. They volition cognize you are not a large believer.

‘When this happens, sooner oregon aboriginal the atrocious results are coming. They’re coming truthful ever we person atrocious results. Wolves, look what happened, however we struggled to win.

‘Against Brentford, against Manchester United for fractional an hour, against Leicester, the starts were really, truly bully truthful they person bully moments.’

Phil Foden scored his 2nd extremity of the play successful each competitions arsenic City ran retired 5-0 winners implicit Sparta Prague successful midweek.

After the victory, the guardant said helium felt similar helium was returning to his champion aft suffering ‘burnout’ from a gruelling 2023/24 season.

‘I’m not acrophobic astatine each due to the fact that I cognize erstwhile he’s good that helium volition get it. He’s a earthy endowment and helium volition get it,’ Guardiola continued.

‘The archetypal extremity against Sparta Prague… Phil is an unthinkable endowment to lick the crippled for himself.

‘Phil already has many, galore years and you person bumps up and down a small bit. You person to trim these abbreviated setbacks arsenic rapidly arsenic possible.

‘They are quality beings truthful let’s beryllium diligent and fto them consciousness that successful these kinds of moments we are determination and everything is going well.

‘I’m blessed to perceive that helium feels bully due to the fact that successful the extremity it depends connected himself.’

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