Man City suffer major injury blow with two more doubts for Newcastle

Manchester City will be without Manu Akanji for more than two months with two more players doubts for Newcastle at the weekend.

Akanji felt some discomfort in his groin after making a block from Vinicius Jr in the closing minutes of the first half, and did not return for the second half. Rico Lewis replaced him, while Matheus Nunes has also been used in that position in recent weeks.

Pep Guardiola confirmed on Friday that Akanji will need surgery on an issue that will keep him out for eight to ten weeks. There are also minor concerns over Jack Grealish and Nico Gonzalez.

"Surgery on Saturday, 8-10 weeks out. Adductor is broken," said Guardiola. "We wish the best recovery for Manu because the effort he has done this season has been unbelievable. Him and Nathan played in difficult conditions and to help the team in emergency condition due to thee lack of players in those positions. In the end, the body said enough is enough."

Grealish started successive games for the first time since September after earning a game against Real with his performance against Leyton Orient. The 29-year-old was influential in Erling Haaland's opening goal but had to be substituted soon after as Phil Foden replaced him.

"It's not as tough as Manu has done but I don't think he will be ready for tomorrow. We will assess in the next hours," he said.

Rodri and Oscar Bobb remain out, while Nico Gonzalez was an unused substitute against Real after the knock he suffered in the FA Cup at Leyton Orient.

"It wasn't a difficult start, he was just injured. A difficult start is when you played bad but that was not how he played. He had a little pain and still for Madrid he wasn't fully fit. Day by day he's getting better and with Jack we will assess in a