Why Jack Grealish missed Man City vs Chelsea in the FA Cup

Jack Grealish was not involved in Manchester City’s FA Cup win over Chelsea on Sunday.

The winger was introduced from the bench on Thursday as the Premier League champions won 1-0 at Stamford Bridge and was expected to start for the second meeting three days later. However, the club confirmed via their website that Grealish missed out due to illness.

There’s no indication of the severity of the problem, or whether he’ll be fit in time for City’s next match, a Carabao Cup clash against Southampton on Wednesday night. Ruben Dias also didn’t play as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury.

City won 4-0 on Sunday thanks to a brace from Riyad Mahrez and goals from Juilian Alvarez and Phil Foden, that sets up a fourth-round clash with the winners of Oxford United vs Arsenal. There were seven changes for the win over Chelsea with Ederson, John Stones, Nathan Ake, Joao Cancelo, Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland dropping out.

In their place, Stefan Ortega Moreno was named in nets ahead of a back four of Kyle Walker, Manuel Akanji, Aymeric Laporte and Sergio Gomez. In midfield, Pep Guardiola went with Rodri, Bernardo Silva and Cole Palmer, with Mahrez, Alvarez and Foden up front - and Alvarez made his first start at club level since becoming a world champion in Qatar.

Guardiola has plenty to contend with at present, and City face a hectic schedule in January with a Carabao Cup fixture to be played on Wednesday and then a huge clash with Manchester United at the weekend. Therefore, rotation will be key for the City boss across the month.

As for Chelsea, Bashir Humphreys played his first game for the club, with Lewis Hall also coming into the side. Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic, who were doubts ahead of the game, both missed out.