Manchester City have managed to get to mid-October without having lost a match in all competitions.
With eight Premier League games played, City have won six and drawn two, scoring more goals (19) than any other side in doing so.
In the Champions League, Pep Guardiola’s team drew 0-0 with Inter Milan before picking up substantial victories against Slovan Bratislava and Sparta Prague.
Whilst securing these results to put them in a good early position to potentially win more trophies by the end of the season, the Blues have had to deal with some big injury issues involving some of the key players in their squad.
Let’s take a look at some of those injury issues and what options Guardiola could use to help overcome them.
Man City’s injury issues and potential solutions
Just before he saw his side beat Sparta 5-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night, Guardiola said that Jack Grealish and Jeremy Doku have picked up injuries.
This means that with Oscar Bobb still recovering from his long-term injury, the only predominant winger City have fit is Savinho.
The Catalan said that Grealish could be out for seven to 10 days, with Doku expected to be missing for longer (via Manchester Evening News).
For the Sparta match, Guardiola deployed Matheus Nunes in a left-wing role. In doing so, Nunes delivered two assists and scored one goal in their midweek win.
This suggests that this could be a suitable solution for Guardiola in the absences of Grealish and Doku.
City are also dealing with Rodri and De Bruyne injuries
With Rodri out injured for the season with the knee injury he picked up against Arsenal, City have also had to deal with another midfielder’s absence over the past few weeks.
Specifically, the Blues have been without Kevin De Bruyne since their 0-0 draw with Inter back in September when he picked up a muscle injury.
In his post-Sparta press conference, Guardiola said that De Bruyne still doesn’t feel fit enough to play despite having trained over the past few days.
As a solution for this, in addition to relyng on the likes of Mateo Kovacic and Ilkay Gundogan, Guardiola could give the likes of Nico O’Reilly and James McAtee the chance to inject some energy into City’s midfield.
