Liverpool fans have been rolling their eyes after learning that Ruben Dias is back in training two weeks after Manchester City said the defender would be out for up to six weeks with a hamstring injury.
The Portugal centre-half has missed City’s last three games after suffering the set-back following the 1-0 win over Everton at the end of February. In that time, Liverpool have closed the title-race gap to just a point following Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Arsenal.
But City posted a photo on their Instagram account on Thursday morning showing Dias back in training, much earlier than expected. The sight is sure to concern Liverpool fans, many of them accusing Pep Guardiola and his staff of purposely overestimating his recovery time in a battle of mind games.
READ MORE: Man City receive huge Ruben Dias injury boost ahead of Southampton FA Cup fixture
Many aired their thoughts on Twitter, following the posting of the photo…
@akashag6797: Pep Guardiola over exaggerating about injuries? Shocking!
@Ifcharry: You know Pep is stressing and scratching his head when he just lies about random stuff.
@LFCMIKE11: Expected it tbh, City players always come back ahead of schedule.
@LFCdedoid: They always do this.
@TwoPhonesJones3: Lol I knew Pep was over exaggerating.
Meanwhile, other users mooted that Guardiola is trying to rush him back ahead of a tense run-in period after the forthcoming international break.
@DoctorSamuel_: They have the best CB depth in the world and are still rushing players back from injury.
@Nabyllionaire: Pep's rushing him back like he did with De Bruyne.
@notnali_: No way this ends good.
@_Bvndari: We’ve seen this countless times and we also know how it ends.
Dias’ return will be a major boost to City, who managed to keep five clean sheets in the previous six games he started prior to his injury. In fact, the 24-year-old has helped attain 17 clean sheets in all competitions this term, also chipping in with two goals and four assists.
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City take on Southampton in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup this weekend, with Dias not expected to feature in the squad despite the recent update.
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