The latest on William Saliba, Granit Xhaka, and Nathan Ake ahead of Manchester City vs Arsenal (Premier League)

Manchester City take on Arsenal on Wednesday night in a high-profile Premier League contest that could have huge implications on the direction of this season’s trophy.

With the Premier League title challenge rumbling on deeper into the season, City are putting together a remarkable run of winning form at the perfect time, increasing their hopes of securing a third successive top-flight crown.

Arsenal currently hold a five-point lead over Manchester City in the Premier League, although the direction of the crown remains very much in the hands of the reigning Champions with their two games in hand and tonight’s clash against Mikel Arteta’s side.

While Manchester City’s squad returned to full strength in recent weeks, the trip to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-final hit Pep Guardiola and his players with a significant injury concern to Nathan Ake.

As for Arsenal, they are sweating over the fitness of a number of players, with a confirmed significant absentee at the centre of their defence for the trip to the Etihad Stadium this week.

Ahead of what is expected to be a fiercely-contested clash between the Premier Leagues very best sides this season, here is all the very latest fitness and injury news from both camps!

Manchester City

Pep Guardiola, his coaching staff, and the entire squad were further buoyed by another step in the right direction for Phil Foden at the weekend, as the England international made his first appearance since surgery on his appendix earlier this month.

The 22 year-old’s return to Manchester City’s attacking options comes at the perfect time given the increasingly chaotic fixture schedule and the challenge of a Champions League semi-final double-header not too far away.

However, European competition brought about a serious concern with Nathan Ake – who was replaced in the second-half of their Champions League quarter-final second-leg against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.

The Netherlands international appeared to have sustained a problem with his hamstring and was spotted leaving the Allianz Arena walking gingerly, before being left out of the Manchester City squad that faced Sheffield United on Saturday evening.

Now, in a further damning update on Pep Guardiola’s first-choice left-back, the Catalan coach has confirmed that the defender will also play no part in the mammoth clash against Arsenal this week.

Speaking during his pre-match press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Guardiola confirmed, “No (he is not available against Arsenal). Hopefully he can come back soon, get well soon, but for tomorrow he’s not ready. (Will he be ready for Real Madrid?) I don’t know.”

When quizzed on how much of an impact his absence will be, and how Manchester City will replace him, Guardiola continued, “Yeah, but we’ll find the right player to do it, I don’t have doubts about that. We’ll play with 11 (players).”

Arsenal

Mikel Arteta has his own injury problems to contend with, as he prepares for the visit to Manchester City without star central defender William Saliba – who has failed to show any signs of improvement from an injury to indicate that he can feature in this contest.

Speaking on Tuesday, the Arsenal coach explained, “There’s not been a real improvement, unfortunately for him. So, we are still waiting. We are still hopeful but obviously, it’s another week that has gone by and he hasn’t been able to train with the team.

“At the moment we don’t have him. We are preparing for this game without him and the next game, obviously, it’ll probably come too soon as well. We have to go week by week for the moment.”

Elsewhere, Arteta also confirmed that midfield mainstay Granit Xhaka is a doubt for Arsenal.

“Granit has been out,” Mikel Arteta admitted. “Hopefully, he will be able to train today but he’s still a doubt.”

Other than the aforementioned duo, and long-term absentees in Takehiro Tomiyasu and Mohamed Elneny, the rest of Arsenal’s squad are fully-fit.