Manchester City have suffered another injury setback, with John Stones emerging as a doubt for their upcoming clash with Liverpool.
Pep Guardiola has already been without several key players during a difficult period, which has seen the reigning Premier League champions slip to five consecutive defeats.
Liverpool now hold an eight-point lead at the top of the table, a gap that could extend to 11 points when the teams meet at Anfield on Sunday.
Guardiola will definitely be without two holding midfielders, Rodri and Mateo Kovacic, while Stones – who could have been a makeshift option for the role – missed training on Monday, casting doubt on his availability for the Liverpool match.
The England international is also unlikely to feature in Tuesday’s Champions League clash against Feyenoord, with Guardiola’s side desperate to halt their losing streak before making the trip to Merseyside.
Stones was substituted at half-time during Man City’s humiliating 4-0 defeat at home to Tottenham on Saturday.
Guardiola has pointed to injuries as a significant factor in City’s struggles, particularly in midfield.
“Our main player for transitions, Rodri is not there,” the Manchester City boss admitted.
“We cannot survive because with four central defenders I put Manu[el Akanji] or John there, with Ruben [Dias], Nathan [Ake] and Josko [Gvardiol] behind. We would be strong but we don’t have it.
“I have to play with [Ilkay] Gundo[gan], who is an attacking midfielder and our best guy for arriving into the box but I have to play him as a holding midfielder because the other holding midfielder – Kova is injured.
“And it has to be alongside Rico [Lewis] to give us a lot of passes and we have to adapt.”
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