Man City need Josko Gvardiol to start proving something to Pep Guardiola

There is a brewing injury crisis at Manchester City and there can't be many worse times for that than ahead of facing Liverpool.

Though City are sitting at the top of the table and are already qualified for the Champions League knock-out stages, there have been signs of frailty this season. The Blues have already been defeated by title rivals Arsenal and dropped points at Chelsea. The last thing they need now is to fail to beat another contender in Liverpool.

It's not been ideal preparation for Pep Guardiola, though, as the international break has brought with it a spate of injuries. Erling Haaland, Ederson, Mateo Kovacic, Matheus Nunes, Nathan Ake and Sergio Gomez have all picked up knocks over the last fortnight.

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The severity of the injuries is not yet clear nor if they will be available for Saturday but the prospect of going into the match without so many key players is a daunting one. Especially as John Stones was already sidelined.

Thankfully the defender's muscle injury wasn't as bad as first feared and he hopefully won't be out for a prolonged amount of time but it's still not set in stone when he will be back in action. The sooner the better for City.

Though City got off to a strong start with six successive league wins, they were far from their best and the side often looked off-kilter and off-beat. Early season rustiness, adapting to key summer departures and new players settling in all played their part but the absence of Stones was massive.

Without him, Guardiola has to change up the tactical approach that served City so well last season. Instead of Stones moving into a central area to