Rodri may be facing time on the sidelines after limping off during Manchester City’s match against Arsenal. His troubles began early in the game when he was knocked down just seconds in by a challenge from Kai Havertz, which kept him grounded for a couple of minutes.
Later in the match, after Erling Haaland had given City the lead, Rodri went down again as Arsenal delivered a corner kick, sparking calls from the crowd for a penalty. However, the situation wasn’t the result of a foul. Rodri appeared to have caught his studs in the turf, leading to what seemed like a knee injury. He immediately fell to the ground in considerable pain.
After receiving medical attention on the field, Rodri was able to get up, but he was clearly struggling and was replaced by Mateo Kovacic. As he made his way off the pitch, Rodri passed by manager Pep Guardiola, shaking his head before heading straight down the tunnel. His injury compounds City’s current fitness issues, as star midfielder Kevin De Bruyne was also unavailable for the match.
De Bruyne is still recovering from an injury he picked up during the Champions League final against Inter Milan. Guardiola had downplayed the severity of De Bruyne’s injury before the match, calling it “not major” but still significant enough to keep him out.
Guardiola is likely to be asked about the status of both Rodri and De Bruyne during his post-match press conference. In addition to these concerns, Nathan Ake and young player Oscar Bobb are dealing with long-term injury problems, adding to City’s growing list of absentees.
City’s injury woes come at a challenging time, as they have little rest between matches. They face Watford in the Carabao Cup just two days after their encounter with Arsenal, which may force Guardiola to make further changes to his lineup as he manages the team’s busy schedule.
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