Guardiola suffers injury blows to Dias and Gvardiol
Pep Guardiola’s title hopes have been hit with a double injury blow after defenders Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol were forced off with knocks in the draw against Chelsea.
Guardiola’s first-choice centrebacks will be scanned today to determine the extent of the damage suffered in the second half, with Manchester City dropping more points to lose ground on leaders Arsenal.
With John Stones already out and Nathan Aké unable to play matches in quick succession, Guardiola faces an injury crisis ahead of the Premier League game against Brighton on Wednesday.
“We’ll see but it doesn’t look good,” Guardiola said. “Him [Gvardiol] and Ruben, we’ll see what happens.
“With Ruben it looks like muscle. I didn’t speak to the doctor but if Ruben is out it’s because he felt something.”
Gvardiol was helped down the tunnel by two City staff as he was unable to put weight on his left ankle, while Dias was forced off with nine minutes left after feeling a strain off the ball.
“We have a lot [of injuries]. John Stones is missing for I don’t know how many months. Ruben now will be out, Josko will be out. Nathan, always we know with Nathan he cannot play regularly,” Guardiola added.
“It’s the situation. Stay strong and we will find a solution. The spirit is there and will be there. Of course I have concerns. Have you seen the bench today? Four players from the academy and now we will have more. We don’t have players.”
After Dias went off, Chelsea equalised in the 94th minute through Enzo Fernández, cancelling out Tijjani Reijnders’s strike. Despite the injury blows, Guardiola must decide whether he goes into the January transfer market for a defender if they are out long term.
“I don’t think so but we’ll see what happens because I know Ruben is a big loss and Josko is a big loss,” said the City manager.