The international break has come at an opportune time for Manchester City, as Pep Guardiola’s injury-hit side look to regroup after losing their fourth game in a row when they went down 2-1 at Brighton.
The current losing streak is the longest of Guardiola’s distinguished career and the Catalan will be hoping that his injured stars can now get some recovery time, with two players already withdrawing from their national team’s squad with injury on Monday.
Matheus Nunes was the first withdrawal to be announced when he was taken out of the Portugal squad, with the Portuguese Football Federation deemed ‘not medically fit’ by doctors.
Manuel Akanji became the second City player to be removed from international duty, with Switzerland announcing that he has an adductor problem.
Here is a look at the rest of City’s international call-ups this month.
Kyle Walker and Rico Lewis – England
Nations League
- Greece vs England (Thursday, November 14)
- England vs Republic of Ireland (Sunday, November 17)
Lee Carsley originally called four City players up to his final England squad, but Phil Foden and Jack Grealish have since pulled out, meaning just Kyle Walker and Rico Lewis remain.
Stefan Ortega – Germany
Nations League
- Germany vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (Saturday, November 16)
- Hungary vs Germany (Tuesday, November 19)
Goalkeeper Stefan Ortega has received his maiden international call-up and will be hoping to make his Germany debut this month.
Ederson, Savinho – Brazil
World Cup qualifiers
- Venezuela vs Brazil (Thursday, November 14)
- Brazil vs Uruguay (Wednesday, November 20)
Savinho is another player who has recently been on the City injury list, but he has been called up, alongside goalkeeper Ederson, to the Brazil squad for two World Cup qualifiers this month.
Bernardo Silva – Portugal
National League
- Portugal vs Poland (Friday, November 15)
- Croatia vs Portugal (Monday, November 18)
While Matheus Nunes has been withdrawn from the Portuguese squad for their Nations League double-header, Bernardo Silva will be a part of Roberto Martinez’s squad.
Josko Gvardiol, Mateo Kovacic – Croatia
Nations League
- Scotland vs Croatia (Friday, November 15)
- Croatia vs Portugal (Monday, November 18)
Defender Josko Gvardiol is another player that Guardiola has hinted has had fitness doubts, saying “Josko cannot play every three days,” last month as injuries were beginning to take hold of the City squad.
He has been included in the Croatia squad however, alongside midfielder Mateo Kovacic.
Erling Haaland – Norway
Nations League
- Slovenia vs Norway (Thursday, November 14)
- Norway vs Kazakhstan (Sunday, November 17)
Erling Haaland is another player Guardiola has moved to protect in recent weeks, leaving him on the bench for the Carabao Cup defeat at Tottenham. City can ill-afford any injury to the centre-forward and Guardiola will be crossing his fingers that he returns to the club without any issues.
Jeremy Doku – Belgium
Nations League
- Belgium vs Italy (Thursday, November 14)
- Israel vs Belgium (Sunday, November 17)
The winger missed this weekend’s defeat to Brighton, with Guardiola giving a concerning injury update after the match, stating that Doku “has some muscular problems in his quadriceps” and was unable to run at full speed.
The 22-year-old’s involvement with Belgium therefore seems unlikely.
