Kyle Walker picked up a hamstring injury during England’s friendly vs Brazil last week and this week, two other Manchester City defenders John Stones and Manuel Akanji have sustained knocks.
Stones managed to play just 10 minutes against Belgium on Tuesday, following which he went off with a suspected abductor injury.
The England manager was asked if he made a mistake using John Stones in both the friendlies but Gareth Southgate has defended his decision saying: “We measure everything. The first game wasn’t a game which was a high level in terms of intensity.
“Of course, we’re disappointed if he’s got a problem. It looks like it’s in the abductor area. He came in on the back of not playing for two weeks, so it’s not about overload. But I hate sending players back to their clubs injured.”
Abductor injuries generally take two to four weeks to heal which puts him in doubt for the Arsenal game this coming weekend.
The other defender, Manuel Akanji picked up a knock while on international duty which forced him to miss Switzerland’s international friendly against Ireland and while the extent of his injury is unknown he too is a doubt for Sunday.
Thankfully, Kyle Walker’s injury is not said to be serious which means he could be fit in time for Sunday’s high-profile encounter. John Stones and Manuel Akanji are both set to miss out and if Kyle Walker is also unavailable then it will be a major headache for the Man City manager.
Walker is the first-choice right-back for MCFC and in his absence, Akanji and John Stones usually fill up that spot. Now, if all three are missing against Arsenal then Pep will have to put faith in young Rico Lewis. However, the rumour mills are suggesting that Akanji does not have any injuries and he was just protected on the requests of Man City because John Stones and Walker have picked up knocks.
