Man City handed fresh injury blow ahead of Aston Villa clash
Manchester City have been handed a fresh injury blow ahead of facing Aston Villa this weekend.
Centre-back Ruben Dias has been ruled out for several weeks after suffering an injury in City's recent defeat to Manchester United. City lost all three of the matches they played without Dias last month as the Portuguese was dealing with a calf injury.
"[Ruben Dias will be out for] three or four weeks," Pep Guardiola said. "It's muscular. [He played] 75 minutes against United and he felt something but he is so strong and wanted to stay on the pitch."
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Meanwhile, Guardiola also confirmed Manuel Akanji could return against Villa after being sidelined for the last two league matches against Crystal Palace and United.
"Manuel and John (Stones) are back in training," the City boss said. "That is good for us. I don't know yet [if they will start on Saturday]. Yesterday was their first training session."
City have only won one of their last 11 league games and will be leapfrogged by Villa on Saturday if they lose.
Speaking about the job Unai Emery has performed at Villa, Guardiola said: “Top, excellent manager who has handled many things. Their results in Champions League for themselves,” he said.
“They have done really, really well. They have a long squad, it is really good. In those terms it is nice.”
