Pep Guardiola is about to discover which players he can trust at Man City
You know times are hard when multiple teams are already suffering their own injury crisis.
There are currently 110 Premier League players unavailable to their clubs. Two teams have 11 players out, five have eight or more, half have at least four out and West Ham are the only side with just one sidelined player. Though not all of those players are out due to injury the vast majority are and it's becoming a problem.
Though not a surprising one in the slightest. The relentless march of football has to harness its energy from somewhere and it's the players who suffer. Seasons have got longer, the breaks between them shorter and the number of games goes up with every passing year.
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Injuries are inevitable and Manchester City are not immune. Far from it. Pep Guardiola hasn't been able to call upon a fully fit squad once this season and is currently with Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and John Stones. Jack Grealish, Mateo Kovacic, Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake have all missed matches.
That's a lot for any team to handle and while City have the quality elsewhere to deal with losses, they don't exactly have the numbers. The Blues have one of the smallest squads in the Premier League which enhances the strain when injuries hit as it makes rotation so much harder. On several occasions, Guardiola has been unable to name a full bench despite having two goalkeepers on it.
Games are coming thicker and faster than they even did in last season's treble triumph. City had to compete in the UEFA Super Cup and will have Club World Cup duties in December to contend with as well, which
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