Pep Guardiola's Manchester City recorded their tenth win in 11 games heading into the title crunch match against Arsenal on Wednesday night. Having watched the Gunners draw twice since their last league game it has opened up the chance to put serious pressure on at the top of the table.
City sit five points adrift of top spot with two games in hand and know that a win against Mikel Arteta's side will hand them a key advantage heading into the final weeks of the season. Should Arsenal avoid defeat then it would put pressure on their nearest challengers to be almost perfect from here on in.
The reigning champions will have to head into the game without one of their standout defenders after Nathan Ake missed the FA Cup semi-final with Sheffield United on Saturday through injury. The centre-back-turned-left-back has been one of the most impressive cogs of Guardiola's side in their recent form but hobbled off last week against Bayern Munich.
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Although the Spanish boss refused to give a timeline for his return, Ake is expected to miss the heavyweight clash. "He's not ready for tomorrow but I don't know how the damage is. They made the final tests this morning to know exactly how he is," was the latest on the Dutchman before the game.
As for Ake himself, he said: "I've had it before and it feels a little bit less to be honest, but you never know with these things, so we will do the ultrasounds and stuff tomorrow and then hopefully it's not too bad."
Injury expert Dr. Rajpal Brar gave his verdict on Twitter, writing: "Nathan Ake right hamstring injury. 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."
Guardiola has also complained about fatigue and tiredness in his squad, explaining: "We are exhausted. I don't know how we recover to play against Sheffield United [in the FA Cup semi-final]. Now is a tough moment for the game on Saturday."
Despite this he started with Ilkay Gundogan, Berndardo Silva, Manuel Akanji, Riyad Mahrez, Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland for the win at Wembley. Phil Foden also returned to action after more than four weeks out.
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