While many tipped—and still back—Manchester City to win the Premier League this season, the title race is slowly slipping away from them, thus making Thursday's fixture a do-or-die match for the defending champions.
The Cityzens, who are now eight points behind surprise leaders Arsenal following their Manchester Derby defeat, will host Tottenham during the midweek in what should be a crucial tie.
Despite being the best team in the country for the past few years, Guardiola's side have always suffered slip-ups against the North London outfit and were even beaten both home and away by Spurs last season. The English giants must return to winning ways or will risk losing further ground on the Gunners.
As a result, when it was announced that Kevin de Bruyne was missing from Tuesday's training session, this sparked concern among the fans. Sky Sports were allowed in with their cameras to film the players practicing and picked up on the absence of the Belgian superstar.
Kevin De Bruyne
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) January 17, 2023
Ruben Dias
John Stones
Manchester City squad in training ahead of the Spurs game pic.twitter.com/g7oKI69PGw
The reason wasn't initially revealed, leaving it up to speculation. Given the midfielder's age and history with injuries, many began wondering if he would be sidelined for the Spurs clash.
Fortunately, Guardiola revealed that De Bruyne was merely absent due to personal reasons and is fine for the upcoming encounter with Conte's side. And the good news did not stop there as Ruben Dias and John Stones have both returned from injuries and are in contention for Thursday's game. Check out Pep's update in the clip below.
"Today, De Bruyne is back."
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) January 18, 2023
Pep Guardiola confirms Kevin De Bruyne was missing from Man City training yesterday due to a personal issue pic.twitter.com/Ojxs3zc2D9
Nonetheless, Manchester City will need to shake off their recent form, having lost 2-1 to Manchester United over the weekend. That was the fourth time in their last nine outings that Haaland and Co. failed to win.
As a result, not only are the Red Devils a mere point behind but so are Newcastle, meaning Pep's side cannot afford to drop points. However, after their 2-0 North London Derby defeat to Arsenal, the Cityzens will face a Tottenham out for revenge.
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