Man City injury blow as Stones, Walker out for Arsenal clash

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola suffered a double blow ahead of the crucial Premier League clash with Arsenal after confirming on Friday that John Stones and Kyle Walker would miss out.

Stones and Walker suffered injuries playing for England during the international break and will be unavailable for Arsenal's visit to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

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Kevin De Bruyne, Éderson, Jack Grealish and Manuel Akanji should all be fit to face Mikel Arteta's side, who top the points table with Liverpool and one point ahead of City.

“Kyle and John are out, that’s how it is,” Guardiola said in a press conference on Friday.

“Kevin is a very important player. It has been a difficult season for him with injuries and a long absence. He trained very well yesterday. [on Thursday] so we'll see what we're going to do in the next few days. »

Stones has suffered from injury problems this season and has been limited to just 22 games in all competitions. He played 90 minutes for England against Brazil last Saturday and was picked to start again against Belgium three days later.

Gareth Southgate was criticized for picking the Stones twice in such a short space of time, but asked if he was disappointed Guardiola refused to get involved in the row. “I have no comment to make on this,” he said.

On Sunday, Guardiola will face Declan Rice, a player he tried to sign this summer. City tabled a bid for the England midfielder before swapping West Ham for Arsenal in a record deal worth £105 million ($132.6 million).

“He's not the first one we wanted who didn't join us,” Guardiola said. “Either they don’t want to come or whatever, he’s made his decision and good luck.

“Any Premier League team would have signed Declan Rice, an international captain and a young player who regularly plays a lot of games. That's why Arsenal pushed.”