De Bruyne To Miss Wednesday’s Manchester Derby
Reuters / John Sibley
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has confirmed that Kevin de Bruyne will miss the derby against Manchester United in the EFL Cup on Wednesday.
De Bruyne has been in the form of his life this season, and has flourished under the reign of Pep Guardiola so far.
Having been set to go up against Jose Mourinho – the man who sold him to Wolfsburg while in charge of Chelsea – and his Manchester United team for the second time this season, the Belgian suffered a knock in the leg, and Guardiola confirmed that there was ‘no chance’ of him playing a part in the highly anticipated clash.
Guardiola also confirmed that Pablo Zabaleta will be absent through injury. However, there was positive news surrounding Vincent Kompany and Sergio Aguero, as the Spaniard confirmed that both players will be in contention for a place in the squad to face their cross-town rivals.
“Kevin cannot play. No way. He had a big knock in the leg. Hopefully he can play against West Brom, but I don’t know,” said Guardiola.
“Pablo, I think, cannot play either. Vincent, I think he can. He will train and after we will see if he is fit. I need to see all the guys in training today. Then we will decide. Sergio is in contention.”
Reuters / Jason Cairnduff
Guardiola also spoke highly of City’s reserve players Pablo Maffeo and Aleix Garcia, saying that he was definitely going to rotate the squad, and that the youngsters may get a chance to prove their worth soon.
He added: “We are going to rotate. Some that haven’t played are going to play, sure, firstly because they deserve it but also because there has been some tough games recently. People are tired.
“Pablo Maffeo and Aleix Garcia are with us and I am so happy about that. It’s not easy when you are training with the first team but playing with the second team, but their attitude has been really good.”
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