135 games lost - how Man City's latest title charge is fuelled by injury setbacks

It's so easy to disprove the myth that Manchester City have an endless squad, that it's amazing that rival fans and lazy pundits still talk confidently about the Blues' massive group of players.

The truth, as Pep Guardiola has insisted for a long time, is that City have a small core of 21 players including third choice goalkeeper Scott Carson and academy graduate Oscar Bobb in his first year of senior football. Others, like Rico Lewis, Sergio Gomez and previously Kalvin Phillips were hardly regulars.

If City had those 21 players fit and available all season, to be four games away from another title would be impressive. To have done it with over 30 separate injuries or illnesses is even more remarkable.

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Clubs like Manchester United and Newcastle have struggled badly with injuries this season. United have had over 60 occasions where a player is not available. City had Kevin De Bruyne missing for half the season, and were without Erling Haaland for 12 games around the Club World Cup and New Year. John Stones has struggled with injury with four separate setbacks.

In total, 16 of the playing squad have had at least one match where they have been unavailable, with 35 individual cases of injury or illness. In terms of games, Guardiola has seen 134 cumulative games missed from his players, meaning 135 selection decisions where he has not been able to pick his best side all season.

Some of those instances are one-offs, like the illnesses that kept Ruben Dias and Phil Foden at home this weekend, but those small examples can disrupt momentum and also force