Pep Guardiola refused to take the chance to rest too many of his Manchester City big guns against Sheffield United in the FA Cup as Mikel Arteta and Arsenal were given a warning ahead of the sides' meeting in midweek.
City, after progressing to the Champions League semi-finals, are competing for the treble in the final six weeks of the season and could take a massive step towards retaining the Premier League if they were to beat the Gunners on Wednesday.
They first had to overcome Championship opposition in the FA Cup and Guardiola wasn't messing about, keeping in Ilkay Gundogan, Berndardo Silva, Manuel Akanji, Riyad Mahrez, Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland. All of who are likely to be in the mix to play at the Etihad Stadium against Arsenal.
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There was no room for Nathan Ake in the side after he limped off against Bayern Munich in Germany with a hamstring knock. The Dutch defender has been a key part of Guardiola's backline but doesn't look likely to play against Arteta's men.
Guardiola revealed before the semi-final: "I don't know. He's [Ake] not ready for tomorrow but I don't know the damage."
Elsewhere, according to injury expert Dr. Rajpal Brar, he could be out for nearly two months. "Nathan Ake right hamstring injury," he tweeted. "Timeline depends the severity & location of injury (near tendon typically longer).
"Typically grade 1 is 1-2 weeks, grade 2 is 3-6 weeks & grade 3 is 10+ weeks depending on surgery or not. Higher risk for high pace players/positions."
Elsewhere, Phil Foden was named as a substitute yet again and made a first appearance in over one month when he came off the bench to replace Erling Haaland.
Guardiola said before the game: "He was on the bench in Munich after two training [sessions] following two, three weeks without training. Every day that passes he'll be better."
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