Kevin De Bruyne set to miss Manchester City’s Premier League showdown with Arsenal – Injury severity revealed | OneFootball

Manchester City are set to be without Kevin De Bruyne for their mammoth meeting with Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon in a huge blow.

The Belgian international was withdrawn at the half-time interval of Manchester City’s opening UEFA Champions League encounter on Wednesday night, replaced by Phil Foden for the second 45 minutes.

In a clear chance on goal, De Bruyne appeared to sustain a groin issue before being attended to by Manchester City medical staff. Having completed the remaining minutes of the opening half, the decision was taken to remove him from the action.

Pep Guardiola was initially unsure about the severity of De Bruyne’s problem, having not spoken to club medical professionals prior to addressing the media in his post-match press conference, with the City tactician next scheduled to speak on Friday afternoon.

However, before then the nature of the problem and just how long the 33-year-old could be out for has been reported early in the media, with the midfielder’s fate for the weekend’s huge top-flight encounter now revealed.

According to the information of The Mirror’s David McDonnell, Kevin De Bruyne is set to miss Manchester City’s Premier League showdown with Arsenal on Sunday afternoon, but the Belgian’s injury is not understood to rule him out long-term.

Given the importance of Kevin De Bruyne to Manchester City’s system, and the number of matches on the horizon for the club, the report states that Etihad Stadium staff are unwilling to risk playing him and potentially losing him for even longer.

The absence of the legendary playmaker will leave Pep Guardiola with a decision in the centre of the park, and will likely turn to one of Ilkay Gundogan, Mateo Kovacic, Phil Foden, or Bernardo Silva to occupy the central position.

It was Foden who took on the role during the second-half of the 0-0 draw against Inter Milan on Wednesday night, creating numerous opportunities during his time on the pitch in chances that the Premier League champions should have taken to claim all three points.

Foden himself is only just returning to full match sharpness and fitness, having been ruled out for a large part of the season’s start with illness, following a brief appearance on the opening weekend of the campaign against Chelsea.

De Bruyne’s injury now takes Manchester City’s total number of absentees for the coming matches to three, with Nathan Ake and Oscar Bobb already ruled out with a muscular injury and a leg bone fracture respectively.