Pep Guardiola issued the exact opposite of a positive injury update just 24 hours before Manchester City faces Brighton at American Express Stadium.
Nothing is going right for Manchester City at the minute. For the first time since Apr. 2018, the Citizens suffered three consecutive defeats, putting the club in a "dark place," per Bernardo Silva. The losses came from Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao Cup, Bournemouth in the Premier League and Sporting CP in the Champions League.
On top of City's poor run of form, the team has been inundated with injuries. The lack of players available to Guardiola in recent weeks has no doubt contributed to City's struggles and the boss did not have many encouraging words on the injury front ahead of Saturday's EPL fixture against Brighton & Hove Albion.
“[There is] no good news,” said Guardiola. “We have the same [players available] as we did for Lisbon. The players that travelled, still they are there.”
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City will therefore be without Jack Grealish, Rúben Dias and John Stones once again. Rodri and Oscar Bobb also remain sidelined with a long-term knee and leg injuries respectively.
Grealish was surprisingly called up to represent England during the November international break despite last playing for City on Oct. 20. When asked about the decision, Guardiola replied, "It is a question for the manager of England.”
A handful of previously injured players did feature for City midweek, including Savinho, Jérémy Doku, Kevin De Bruyne and Manuel Akanji. Kyle Walker remained on the bench as an unused substitute, but the 34-year-old played 90 minutes against Bournemouth last weekend.
No matter who is on the pitch come Saturday's match, though, Guardiola will be expecting a response from his side against a team that is winless in its last three matches.
City currently sits second in the Premier League standings, trailing Liverpool by two points. With how good the Reds have looked under Arne Slot, dropping points in consecutive EPL fixtures would spell trouble for the Citizens' title defense.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Pep Guardiola Offers 'No Good News' on Man City Injury Front Ahead of Brighton Clash.
