Why Rodri and Zinchenko are missing for Manchester City’s clash with Southampton
Why Rodri and Zinchenko are missing for Manchester City’s clash with Southampton
City take on Southampton
Off the back of a convincing 6-3 victory over RB Leipzig in midweek, Manchester City return to the Etihad to take on Southampton this afternoon.
Your City XI to face the Saints! ⬇️
XI | Ederson, Walker, Dias, Ake, Cancelo, Fernandinho (C), Gundogan, Bernardo, Sterling, Jesus, Grealish
SUBS | Carson, De Bruyne, Torres, Mahrez, Foden, Mbete, Palmer, Lavia, Wilson-Esbrand
⚽️ @HaysWorldwide
🔷 #ManCity pic.twitter.com/plPqb0PheW— Manchester City (@ManCity) September 18, 2021
The Citizens have named a strong side that includes Raheem Sterling, who has today been linked with Barcelona, as well as new boy Jack Grealish, who netted a stunner in midweek.
“Class from the £100m man!”
Jack Grealish has his first Champions League goal, and it’s a little bit special 🤩#UCL pic.twitter.com/89YZ2jbYsp
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) September 15, 2021
There are also returns to the bench for Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne, both of whom are yet to start a Premier League tie following injuries suffered in the summer while on international duty.
Why Rodri and Zinchenko are missing
However, City are not without concerns when it comes to injuries.
Both John Stones and Aymeric Laporte are missing after picking up injuries in the international break, with the pair set to miss the next two matches too. Guardiola revealed that:
“Muscle injury. Stones didn’t play for us and played 90 minutes for the national team and came back injured. Laporte came back with some niggles but he wanted to play against Leicester, but after that game his niggles were a little bit higher and we didn’t want to take a risk. I don’t know against Wycombe or Chelsea but hopefully they can be ready after.”
Meanwhile, both Oleksandr Zinchenko and Rodri are also absent today, with an official statement confirming that they miss out due to injury:
Rodrigo and Oleksandr Zinchenko both miss out due to injury
There is as of yet no return date for the pair, although Citizens will be hoping that it is sooner rather than later as they are approaching a threadbare squad defensively amid a hectic schedule.
