Manchester City are again likely to be missing a number of key players as they host West Ham on Saturday.
The fallen champions have been hampered by a lengthy injury list throughout the campaign and none of their current absentees are expected to return this weekend.
That includes defenders Ruben Dias and John Stones, as well as goalkeeper Ederson.
Portugal international Dias has missed the last three games with a muscular problem while England centre-back Stones is still troubled by a foot issue and Brazil’s Ederson has a leg problem.
Working towards the weekend 👊 pic.twitter.com/qgy3pFqfQD
— Manchester City (@ManCity) January 2, 2025
Manager Pep Guardiola said: “It’s quite a similar (squad) to how we were at Leicester.”
Speaking at a press conference, Guardiola added that Dias was “getting better but he’s not ready for tomorrow” while he reported Ederson had “trained better without a disturbance”.
Midfield linchpin Rodri said in an interview this week that he hopes to return before the end of the season.
The Ballon d’Or winner was initially ruled out for the remainder of the campaign after suffering a serious knee injury in September.
That remains the official prognosis but Guardiola is encouraged by the 28-year-old’s optimism.
The City boss said: “The important thing is to recover well. (Before) the end of the season will be good, but the target is to recover well to be ready at the end of the season.”
City lifted some of the gloom that has descended on the club recently with victory in their Premier League game at Leicester last Sunday.
The team had won just one and lost nine of their previous 13 games in all competitions in a dramatic and uncharacteristic slump in fortunes.
That sequence appears to have all but ended their hopes of winning a record fifth successive title, having fallen 14 points behind leaders Liverpool, but Guardiola is at least hopeful a corner has been turned.
He said: “We didn’t play at our best level but it’s good for the mood to get results, obviously.
“We are way off our best or being consistent in the results but we have an opportunity against West Ham to make another victory that always will help for the future.”
Guardiola has said the club would like to make reinforcements in the January transfer window if possible.
“It will not be easy,” he said. “Maybe we sign, maybe we don’t sign anyone.
“I think the club has to be wise. Don’t do it for (the sake of) doing it, just to add players.
“Of course, for the situation that we have the club has to do it, but I don’t know if it will be possible to do it.”
Veteran playmaker Kevin De Bruyne is out of contract at the end of the season and can now speak to other clubs about his future.
Ideally, Guardiola would like him to agree a new deal at City but a number of factors, including the player’s recent fitness record, need to be considered.
He said: “Always it’s what we want but he had problems in the past year, year and a half. When he’s consistent and fit and he can play regularly, he’s a really important player for us, a decisive player.
“If it’s going to happen it’s for how he’s going to perform until the end of the season, the age that he has, many things that the club has to think about.”
