Man City have extra concern for looming Liverpool showdown as Arsenal 'lose key man'

With every step forward, Manchester City are dealt another blow in the injury department.

Pep Guardiola challenged his City players to play through the pain before the trip to Bournemouth. All of a sudden, there was Kyle Walker, Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku at the Vitality Stadium - Walker started, Doku came off the bench, and De Bruyne wasn't risked.

But there was no Ruben Dias or John Stones, with five players still on the injury list and a number of fitness concerns. Nathan Ake and Manu Akanji probably wouldn't have played at Bournemouth if they weren't the only centre-back options. Guardiola says City are in an 'emergency' - and he must be wary of another issue that could keep some key men out of big games on the horizon.

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After City take on Sporting in the Champions League this week, they travel to Brighton in the Premier League. After the international break are two tricky games - at home to Tottenham and away at Liverpool, who overtook them to top the table this weekend.

That Anfield showdown looks significant, especially with both City and Liverpool pulling away from Arsenal slightly - and while City face difficult tests against Brighton and Spurs before it, Liverpool take on Aston Villa and Southampton.

City will hope for a much fitter squad in a month's time, and Guardiola said last week he wouldn't expect much transfer activity in January because most of his injured players will be back. But what he doesn't need is any enforced absences, such as suspensions.

Currently, City have three players who will have to