Why Manuel Akanji is missing for Man City vs Crystal Palace

Manu Akanji did not travel down with the Manchester City squad for Crystal Palace to add to Pep Guardiola's problems.

Akanji suffered discomfort in the first half of the Nottingham Forest and was substituted at the break. The manager did not think it was a serious injury but admitted that the player had been struggling for nearly two months with his fitness, playing through the pain to help the team.

City didn't immediately rule Akanji out of the game but ultimately decided he wouldn't be able to help them in the way anybody wanted. The Swiss defender will now aim to be back in time for the trip to Turin on Tuesday in what is a crunch Champions League game.

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Akanji becomes the seventh City player to miss the Premier League fixture and the third central defender; John Stones is out with a foot injury and Nathan Ake suffered a hamstring problem towards the end of the win over Forest. Rodri, Oscar Bobb, Mateo Kovacic and Phil Foden are the others sidelined.

City are hoping to pick up where they left off in midweek, with a 3-0 win over Forest their first win and clean sheet since October. They can even close the gap to Liverpool at the top of the table with a victory after the Merseyside derby was called off because of the storm causing havoc across the UK

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