Manchester City have trained ahead of their UEFA Champions League Group G encounter with Red Star Belgrade (Crvena Zvezda). The European champions held an open training session at the CFA which screened live on mancity.com. There were several newsworthy items to come from City’s open training session.
Ederson
City’s Brazilian shot-stopper was absent from training today. Joe Bray of Manchester Evening News reported that the goalkeeper is suffering from an illness rather than an injury. With Ederson set to miss tomorrow’s game against Red Star Belgrade, it will likely give Stefan Ortega another chance to start in goal.
Jeremy Doku
The electrifying winger has again missed training and will also be unavailable for tomorrow’s match. Given that the game is essentially a dead rubber it’s highly unlikely that Doku would have been risked even if the Belgian international was fit. Pep Guardiola told the media before City’s win over Luton Town that Doku picked up a minor muscle injury and he could be a few weeks away from returning.
Erling Haaland
City’s number 9 was another absentee from training today. Haaland is currently out of action with a foot issue. There is hope he may return for the European champion’s Premier League match against Crystal Palace this weekend. Pep Guardiola is due to speak with the media later today where an update on Haaland may come from the City manager.
Kevin De Bruyne
De Bruyne was also not involved in training today. The Belgian midfielder is slowly ramping up his recovery from hamstring surgery. Though he was selected in Manchester City’s squad for the FIFA Club World Cup he isn’t expected to feature at the tournament next week.
Manchester City training squad
The squad that trained at the CFA also featured several youngsters from the City EDS side.
City training squad: Ortega, Carson; Walker, Lewis, Akanji, Ake, Dias, Alleyne, Gvardiol, Stones, Gomez, Rodri, Taylor, Susoho, Hamilton, Phillips, Kovacic, Nunes, Bernardo, Foden, Grealish, Bobb, Alvarez.
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