Man City handed new major double injury boost before Liverpool clash

Manchester City have been handed a significant double injury boost with a massive showdown against Liverpool fast approaching.

The defending Premier League champions have lurched into crisis over recent weeks, losing five consecutive matches across all competitions for the first time since the reign of Stuart Pearce back in 2006 after being trounced 4-0 by Tottenham - their first home loss for more than two years - at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening.

Following on from successive defeats by Spurs in the Carabao Cup, Bournemouth and Brighton in the top-flight and Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League, City have become the first defending English top-division champions to lose five games in a row across all competitions since 1956.

Four straight losses was already the worst run of Pep Guardiola’s illustrious managerial career, with things not getting any easier as City travel to Anfield to take on early runaway leaders Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.

Before then, however, City have the chance to halt their losing streak and regain some confidence and momentum ahead of the visit to Merseyside as they resume their Champions League campaign against Feyenoord at the Etihad on Tuesday night.

And Guardiola could welcome back both influential centre-back Ruben Dias and winger Jeremy Doku for that home meeting with the Dutch giants, who currently sit fourth in the Eredivisie and down in 21st in the Champions League standings.

Dias has not played since the Carabao Cup last-16 loss to Tottenham on October 30 after suffering a calf injury, though Guardiola said before the Premier League rematch with Spurs that he was hopeful the Portuguese defender would be back soon.

Doku, meanwhile, came off the bench in City’s last Champions League outing - the shock 4-1 thrashing by Sporting in early November - but has not featured since due to a thigh issue that led to his withdrawal from the Belgium squad for recent Nations League games against Italy and Israel.

It remains to be seen if either player will be involved against Feyenoord or if Guardiola would prefer to save them for the challenge of Liverpool, but the return of both represents a sizable boost for City, whose shocking decline in form has come against the backdrop of a lingering injury crisis.

Phil Foden, John Stones, Manuel Akanji, Kevin De Bruyne, Nathan Ake and Matheus Nunes were all fit to be involved against Spurs after respective knocks, though Stones only managed 45 minutes and was withdrawn at half-time on Saturday.

City recently lost the services of midfielder Mateo Kovacic for around a month, while they are still notably struggling to cover the significant absence of Ballon d’Or winner Rodri, who underwent surgery on a serious anterior cruciate ligament injury back in September. Norwegian winger Oscar Bobb is also not expected back until the New Year after fracturing his leg in training back in August.