Man City guaranteed to be without five stars vs Brighton - with question marks over one more
Manchester City remain without five senior stars for the Premier League trip to Brighton on Saturday.
The Blues have been beset by injury issues this season and Pep Guardiola remains without several key men as his side attempt to correct a run of three straight losses in three different competitions. City were beaten by Bournemouth in their last Premier League contest with that reverse coming either side of a Carabao Cup exit at Tottenham and a Champions League thrashing by Sporting Lisbon.
City will pick from the same squad as they did in Portugal when they travel to the south coast. Guardiola confirmed on Friday that none of his injured players would return.
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Rodri is out for the season while Oscar Bobb is also a long-term absentee. John Stones and Ruben Dias remain sidelined and Jack Grealish is also not fit to feature despite being called into the England squad for the upcoming Nations League matches.
Guardiola's pointed answer of 'a question for the England manager' in his pre match press conference when asked about Grealish suggests the City boss isn't happy with the forward's inclusion. The Etihad chief confirmed the 29-year-old is not fit enough to play at Brighton on Saturday.
Guardiola did welcome Kevin De Bruyne back to match action in midweek when the playmaker came on for the final few minutes in the Champions League defeat to Sporting. Jeremy Doku also got off the bench in that contest as he continues to recover from a knock while Savinho was fit enough to start.
But there are question marks over the fitness of defender Nathan Ake. He was an unused sub in midweek having been suffering with a knock and has been left out of the Netherlands' squad for their Nations League fixtures this month. It remains to be seen whether the Dutchman will be able to feature at Brighton in Saturday's tea-time kick off.