Manchester City face Stoke City away in the Premier League ahead of the international break and will have to do so without Sergio Aguero.
Pep Guardiola received a major injury blow heading into the clash after the Argentine striker suffered a knee injury.
“During yesterday’s training I had a discomfort on my left knee,” Aguero said on Twitter. “Now it’s time for a full recovery!”
City traveled to the Bet 365 stadium without their star striker but the injury is not expected to keep him out of action for a lengthy period of time.
The Citizens travel to Abu Dhabi for a warm-weather training camp before the international break, Aguero is expected to join the squad.
Guardiola could also be without Fabian Delph, Fernandinho and Raheem Sterling who will all undergo late fitness tests while Benjamin Mendy returned to training last week.
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In all likelihood, the four names mentioned above will be rested against the Potters so that they can get back up to speed in Abu Dhabi.
Midfielder of Turkish origin Ilkay Gundogan is match-fit and likely to feature.
The 27-year-old has started City’s last eight games in all competitions and is expected to keep his place in the side unless Guardiola decides to make rotations.
Going by Guardiola’s latest comments however, it appears he will not be underestimating Stoke so we could see a full strength side.
It’s almost done. But we are not the champions. The champions are still Chelsea. We have to get the points as soon as possible, knowing that we have the opportunity.
“I know everyone wants to anticipate the situation and what will happen, everyone is thinking about when we will win the title,” Guardiola said in the lead up to the game.
“But the best example was [on Wednesday]. Nobody thought we could lose against Basel and we lost against Basel. We need to be relaxed, stay calm and think about Stoke City.”
