Manchester City have been dealt a new blow as manager Pep Guardiola confirmed that Portugal centre-back Ruben Dias will be out for “three or four weeks” with a muscle injury.
Dias, who was injured in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat by Manchester United, will miss the entire festive program and possibly the FA Cup third round tie against Salford on 11 January.
The 27-year-old also faces a battle to be fit for City’s crucial Champions League trip to Paris St-Germain on 22 January.
Dias has already missed seven games this season with a foot injury, adding to a defensive injury list that has seen John Stones, Nathan Ake, Manuel Akanji and Kyle Walker miss out at various points, while Ballon d’Or winner Rodri misses out. that. the rest of the indoor season after suffering a knee ligament injury.
“It’s a muscle problem and he will be out for three to four weeks,” said Guardiola.
“After 75 minutes against United he felt something. But he is very strong and wanted to stay on the field. Now he is injured.”
Guardiola confirmed Stones, Akanji and midfielder Mateo Kovacic had all trained this week and could play for Aston Villa on Saturday (12:30 GMT), but said goalkeeper Ederson was “a doubt” with an unspecified problem.
With City’s current 11-match winning streak, surprise has been expressed over Guardiola’s use of youngsters James McAtee and Nico O’Reilly.
City made the decision to keep both players despite numerous loan options. Yet McAtee has only made two substitute appearances – coming on in the last minutes both times – while O’Reilly is yet to make his league debut.
But it looks like they will stay at the club for the second half of the season, with Guardiola replying “I don’t think so” when asked if the players could leave during the January transfer window.
