Man City have extra help to ease injury concerns for crunch games

Manchester City now have more injured players than goals scored at Chelsea on Sunday.

Kevin De Bruyne, John Stones and Sergio Gomez were all ruled out before the weekend, Nathan Ake was sidelined in training before the game and now Mateo Kovacic and Ederson have pulled out of their international camps. Pep Guardiola was asked about his lack of depth after failing to name a full bench at Stamford Bridge, and now faces being without a quarter of his outfield squad as well as his starting goalkeeper.

The extent of the injuries aren't known, and the fact that Kovacic and Ederson finished the game at Chelsea would suggest that their issues aren't too serious but they will still be a concern as City plot their way through the next batch of fixtures. The Blues lost three in four before the October international break the last time injuries and suspensions bit, and the opponents coming up are tougher; Liverpool, Spurs, and Villa are the next three Premier League fixtures.

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Guardiola would like to think that he has taken lessons from their previous difficulties and can at least bank on having Rodri in the side barring any misfortune with Spain. Aside from those hopes, the manager will definitely be able to count on something he couldn't earlier in the season: the Etihad.

City may well have lost to Newcastle, Wolves and Arsenal if those fixtures had been played at home, but their track record suggests that they may not have done. Guardiola's side have won every game at their ground in all competitions in 2023, a 23-game run that is one short of a record set by Sunderland in