The race for the Premier League title took another huge twist at the weekend, as Manchester City retook the initiative ahead of their upcoming showdown against Arsenal.
After watching Mikel Arteta’s side slump to a 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth in Saturday’s early kick-off, City were able to claim a vital 3-0 victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, meaning Pep Guardiola’s side are now just six points behind the Gunners.
City also have a game in hand and the two sides are set to meet this Sunday, meaning that the title race remains wide open as we head into the final month of the season.
Manchester City to assess key injury
But while the weekend’s results could not have gone better for City, Guardiola saw one of his key players leave the game injured, potentially disrupting the club’s preparations for this weekend’s key clash.
Nico O’Reilly has been a vital part of City’s pursuit of Arsenal in recent weeks, scoring his ninth goal of the season at Stamford Bridge, when he opened the scoring for Guardiola’s side with a 51st-minute header.
Goals from Marc Guehi and Jeremey Doku followed as Liam Rosenior’s side were duly dispatched, but O’Reilly’s afternoon ended in the 64th minute after he went down off the ball near the halfway line, clutching his left hamstring.
After receiving treatment from the City medical team, the 21-year-old was replaced by Rayan Ait-Nouri as City saw out the victory.
The England international had a brief word with Guardiola on the touchline with the pair smiling as they seemingly shared a joke before O’Reilly headed down the tunnel.
That may have allayed fears of a significant injury, but Guardiola was not able to give any further details on O’Reilly’s injury during his post-match media duties. An update will likely follow in Guardiola’s pre-Arsenal press conference later this week, with fans hoping that Sunday’s substitution was merely a precautionary move.
O’Reilly has been a key player in recent weeks, with the three-time England international having netted twice in the Carabao Cup final victory over Arsenal last month and would no doubt be a huge miss if he is unable to face the Gunners at the Eithad this weekend.
Guardiola has deployed O’Reilly as his first-choice left-back this season ahead of former Wolves defender Ait-Nouri, but has also featured in midfield during a campaign which has seen him clock up 46 appearances in all competitions.
With Ruben Dias currently sidelined with a hamstring injury, John Stones out with a calf issue and Josko Gvardiol recovering from a broken leg, Guardiola will not want to lose another defensive option ahead of the run-in
Arsenal, meanwhile, have their Champions League quarter-final second leg to negotiate before Sunday’s trip to the Etihad and have injury doubts over Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Riccardo Calafiori, Piero Hincapie, Jurrien Timber and Mikel Merino.
