Manchester City hosted Arsenal in the FA Cup fourth round on Friday evening but suffered an injury blow before half-time that could impact Pep Guardiola’s selection for February’s Premier League meeting with Tottenham Hotspur.
John Stones appeared to pull a muscle in his right leg while challenging for the ball and immediately went down in paid. Guardiola wasted little time deciding to substitute the 28-year-old, bringing on Aymeric Laporte minutes later.
45+2. CITY SUB | A change before half-time 🔄
🔵 0-0 🔴 #ManCity pic.twitter.com/3kkMu3Jpmj
— Manchester City (@ManCity) January 27, 2023
The incident was right before the break, but Guardiola didn’t want Stones to play on as he could have made the injury worse. Laporte moved into his typical left-sided role at centre-back, allowing Manuel Akanji to be on the right.
Stones will now need to be looked at by City’s medical professionals before they can determine how bad the injury is. The England international looked to have pulled the hamstring, but he’ll hope there isn’t a tear as that would add weeks to his estimated return date.
City’s next game is in nine days, so that does allow Stones a rest. He could well return in time to face Spurs, so long as it’s no worse than a Grade 1 strain.
In other news, Pep Guardiola leaves Sergio Gomez out of matchday squad in FA Cup clash
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