Manchester City suffer major defensive blow ahead of FA Cup semi-final against Sheffield United

Nathan Ake will not be fit to feature in Manchester City’s FA Cup semi-final tie against Sheffield United at Wembley, Pep Guardiola has confirmed.

The Premier League champions progressed to the Champions League semi-final for a third year running with a 4-1 aggregate win over Bayern Munich on Wednesday night, holding the German side to a 1-1 return leg draw at the Allianz Arena.

A third Premier League title on the trot could also be on the books for Guardiola’s men, who welcome league leaders Arsenal to the Etihad Stadium in less than a week.

While Arsenal will look to recover from their recent slump in form against Southampton on Friday, Manchester City have FA Cup commitments as they face Sheffield United in the semi-final at Wembley on Saturday.

City, who went all the way in their historic 2018/19 season under Guardiola, suffered a 3-2 loss at the semi-final stage against Liverpool last season before pipping the Reds in the league on the final day of the season courtesy of a dramatic 3-2 win over Aston Villa.

Guardiola will be wary of the threat posed by high-flying Sheffield United, who could very well be returning to the Premier League next season.

However, the Catalan has confirmed that City will miss Nathan Ake against the Blades after the Dutchman suffered a hamstring injury in the Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich in midweek.

Speaking in a press conference on Friday afternoon, Guardiola said: “He (Ake) is not ready for tomorrow (Saturday), but I don’t know how is the damage. They will do the test tomorrow.”

It remains to be seen if Ake’s injury will rule him out for City’s upcoming league battle against Arsenal, a fixture that could prove to have a significant say in the title race.

Aymeric Laporte was brought on for Ake in the second half against Bayern in Munich and could be set to replace the 28-year-old in City’s backline at Wembley.

The games are coming thick and fast for treble-chasing City in the season run-in, but the wealth of experience in the squad and Guardiola’s management could see the Blues pick up three pieces of silverware in May.