Pep Guardiola confirms key Man City player set to miss Arsenal clash through injury

Pep Guardiola has confirmed Nathan Ake will miss Manchester City’s Premier League clash against Arsenal.

The defender was not expected to be available after he picked up a hamstring injury last week against Bayern Munich that forced him to sit out Saturday’s FA Cup win over Sheffield United. Guardiola confirmed on Friday that Ake was due to have a scan later that afternoon, but has not since been asked about his availability.

Speaking on Tuesday, the City boss revealed that Ake will miss City’s game against Arsenal on Wednesday, and revealed he is not sure if the Dutchman will be back in time to face Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final next month.

“Hopefully he can come back soon but for tomorrow he is out. I don’t know about Madrid,” said Guardiola. “Yeah [it’s a blow] but we will find the right player to do it,” he added. “I don’t have doubts about that, we’ll play with 11.”

Ake has established himself as a vital player for City since the World Cup and he has missed just one Premier League match since the season resumed in December - that was a home win over relegation-threatened Leicester City. The former Bournemouth man carries out a unique role in defence and starts at left-back but pushes into the centre when City have possession.

In Ake’s absence, Aymeric Laporte seems the most natural replacement, although Rico Lewis and Bernardo Silva have played at left-back already this season.

As for Arsenal, Mikel Arteta revealed on Tuesday that Granit Xhaka is a doubt for Wednesday’s game, while William Saliba has been ruled out with a back injury. “At the moment we don’t have him and we are preparing for this game without him,” said the Arsenal manager. “The next game is probably going to come too soon as well. We have to go week by week at the moment.”