Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has provided a worrying injury update following his side’s hard-fought 1-0 win over Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday.
The Citizens managed to make the most of their recent trip to the South Coast where a Riyad Mahrez strike ensured that they picked up maximum points from the Premier League clash.
Despite the positives, the Premier League holders witnessed Kevin de Bruyne suffer a hamstring injury right before the half-time break, and Guardiola has now confirmed that the Belgian will be sidelined for a while.
In a report covered by BBC Sport, the Catalan tactician acknowledged that the midfielder has suffered another hamstring injury – one that will keep him out of action for a period which was, however, unmentioned.
He said: “Kevin will be out for a while with a muscular problem – hamstring. I think we’ve played 25 games in 93 days, one every three days, so it’s a physiological issue. The body is not able to recover so of course sometimes the muscle says ‘hello, that’s enough’.”
De Bruyne has not managed to replicate the performances from last season amid the injury concerns and the latest setback should bring further frustration for the 27-year-old playmaker.
Aside from the Belgian, John Stones was brought off the field shortly after the beginning of the second half but Guardiola has clarified that the substitution was made as more of a precaution.
“John I think is more precaution. We didn’t take a risk – we’ll see tomorrow,” he added.
Manchester City are currently at the top of the Premier League with a two-point advantage over Liverpool, although the Reds do have a game in hand – today away at Everton.
