Man City ‘hopeful’ on Kevin De Bruyne fitness as Liverpool forward picks up ‘knock’

Manchester City could be without key men Kyle Walker and Kevin De Bruyne for Saturday’s FA Cup clash with Liverpool.

The pair were both replaced in Wednesday’s Champions League draw with Atletico Madrid, which saw City progress to the last four of the competition.

It’s a quick turnaround for Pep Guardiola’s men, who face Liverpool in the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley this weekend, on the back of their manager’s claims that his squad are in ‘big trouble’ due to the number of absentees.

Ruben Dias returned to the bench on Wednesday, but is unlikely to be fit enough to start, meanwhile Cole Palmer hasn’t played since January through injury.

It’s why a period on the sidelines for either Walker or De Bruyne could prove so costly in the final weeks of the season, as City chase down that elusive treble.

What’s the latest on Walker & De Bruyne?

The Daily Mail claims De Bruyne has picked up an ankle injury and won’t feature against Liverpool on Saturday.

They add the knock is seen as ‘impact injury rather than muscular’, with it hoped the Belgian’s absence won’t be long-term.

Elsewhere, The Sun report that City ‘are more hopeful’ about De Bruyne’s injury, than the one suffered by Walker, who was seen wearing a protective boot as he left the Wanda Metropolitano on Wednesday.

As per The Sun, there are fears the defender could miss a ‘chunk of the club’s treble charge’ due to the ankle injury he sustained in Madrid.

Guardiola has had issues in the full-back department this season and, should Walker’s injury rule him out for an extended period, it would leave City with just two fit full-backs: Joao Cancelo and Oleksandr Zinchenko. Guardiola has also played John Stones and Nathan Ake at right-back and left-back respectively in recent months.

Liverpool’s injury update

While City wrestle with a spate of injuries, it’s a problem Jurgen Klopp doesn’t have to contend with.

The German rested Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and Andrew Robertson on Wednesday as Liverpool progressed to the Champions League semi-finals, while Fabinho, Thiago, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane also started on the bench.

Despite that, there is one concern for Klopp, who could be without attacker Diogo Jota for the trip to the capital.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, the Liverpool boss said: “Diogo has a slight knock but there is a good chance he will be alright - but we need to have a closer look tomorrow [Friday]. That is it.”