Manchester City have confirmed that Kevin De Bruyne ‘will miss’ Saturday evening’s Premier League meeting with Arsenal.
The 29-year-old picked up an injury on international duty with Belgium, resulting in him missing their Nations League win over Iceland on Wednesday. He returned early from his Belgium excursions and could be sidelined for a short period.
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Pep Guardiola said in Friday’s pre-match press conference: “Unfortunately, Kevin is out, but the rest of the players came back well. I don’t think it is much, but the next games I think he will be out.”
De Bryne’s absence will be a blow. The £108m-rated midfielder has made five appearances in all competitions, scoring one goal with one assist.
He’s created 14 chances in three Premier League games, has made 5/10 successful dribbles, has whipped in 21 crosses with 23.8% finding a teammate and has completed 79.4% of his 175 passes. In De Bruyne’s absence, Guardiola could call upon Bernardo Silva to accompany Phil Foden and Rodri in midfield.
Ahead of our meeting with Arsenal, we’re 14th in the table with four points from a possible nine, having failed to win our last two games – 5-2 defeat to Leicester City (September 27), 1-1 draw with Leeds United (October 3).
Here’s hoping we can turn things around without De Bruyne.