Pep Guardiola expects to be without Manchester City midfielder for Fulham clash in ongoing injury blow

Manchester City are expecting to once again be without midfielder Kevin De Bruyne for the visit of Fulham on Saturday afternoon, according to manager Pep Guardiola.

The Premier League champions will return to their top-flight schedule this weekend after claiming their first three points in the brand new league phase format of the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night.

Four goals away from home without response from Slovan Bratislava rounded off a comfortable evening from the 2023 winners, with first-half strikes from Ilkay Gundogan and Phil Foden followed by Erling Haaland and James McAtee in the second-half.

However, with four key stars missing from the first-team once again in Slovakia, it appears as though there will be no change to Pep Guardiola’s available personnel when Marco Silva and his players make the trip north on Saturday afternoon.

Speaking during a recent press conference, the Manchester City manager told reporters that while he does not know the current situation surrounding Kevin De Bruyne, he expects the Belgian to be absent for the visit of Fulham to the Etihad Stadium.

“I don’t know,” Guardiola responded when quizzed on the 33-year-old midfielder’s fitness. “After Fulham or after the international break hopefully he will be fine,” he continued.

Kevin De Bruyne sustained his fitness problem during a 0-0 draw with Inter Milan on matchday one of the UEFA Champions League’s league phase, withdrawn from the contest at the half-time interval moments after taking a shot in the first-half.

Manchester City’s vice-captain would go on to miss the 2-2 draw with Arsenal in the Premier League, a 2-1 win over Watford in the Carabao Cup, as well as the last two contests against Newcastle United at St James’ Park and Slovan Bratislava in the Champions League.

It remains unknown how much training De Bruyne has undertaken since sustaining his fitness, however the current understanding is that he has been taking on individual work within the City Football Academy training base away from the first-team group on the field.