Pep Guardiola reveals triple Manchester City injury boost ahead of Arsenal showdown

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has issued an update on the fitness of trio Kevin De Bruyne, Ederson and Manuel Akanji ahead of Sunday’s clash with Arsenal.

The Sky Blues resume their Premier League title bid this weekend with a crunch meeting with current league leaders Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium, with Manchester City facing three league fixtures in less than a week.

The Gunners and Aston Villa both visit the Etihad Stadium on Sunday and Wednesday respectively, before Manchester City travel to Selhurst Park to face Crystal Palace next Saturday afternoon.

Manchester City can leapfrog Arsenal in the Premier League table with a victory on Sunday, with the Sky Blues currently one point behind both the Gunners and Liverpool ahead of the final 10 matches of the campaign.

Pep Guardiola’s side also continue to compete in both the UEFA Champions League and Emirates FA Cup, and could meet Arsenal in the semi-finals of the European competition dependent on results.

City are facing the prospect of being without both John Stones and Kyle Walker for this weekend’s clash, after the pair both suffered injuries during international duty with England.

The defensive duo were two of seven fitness concerns for Manchester City ahead of the weekend, with questions marks also surrounding Ederson, Kevin De Bruyne, Manuel Akanji, Matheus Nunes and Jack Grealish.

Speaking ahead of Sunday’s clash, Guardiola provided positive updates on Ederson, De Bruyne and Akanji, as well as revealing that Grealish could be in contention to feature this weekend.

Goalkeeper Ederson, who suffered a muscular injury against Liverpool at Anfield earlier this month, is “much better” according to Guardiola, and trained on Thursday afternoon at the City Football Academy.

De Bruyne and Akanji are also available this weekend, with the latter “ok” despite suffering a problem while with Switzerland on international duty.

De Bruyne missed Belgium’s two friendlies due to a groin injury, which also forced the 32-year-old to miss the FA Cup quarter-final win over Newcastle United at the Etihad Stadium.