Manchester City are all set to face Tottenham Hotspurs in the round of 16 tie of the English League Cup. Ahead of the game, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has confirmed a major injury blow to the club. 

Ahead of the encounter, Pep Guardiola addressed his press conference and confirmed that Kevin De Bruyne’s injury looks worse than expected as he’s given a timeline on star midfielder’s comeback. 

Kevin De Bruyne injury update 

Kevin De Bruyne picked up a groin injury back in September during Manchester City’s Champions League group stage encounter against Inter Milan and has been missing from action since then. The expectation was for De Bruyne to mark his return this month but the rehab hasn’t gone to plan. 

Pep Guardiola in his press conference confirmed that despite De Bruyne returning to training he is still expected to be missing from action for atleast another month. According to Pep, the Belgian midfielder still has pain in the leg and isn’t match fit. 

“Kevin de Bruyne can’t play yet. He feels better, can train, but the level we need for competition, when he kicks the ball he still has pain,” revealed Pep Guardiola in his press conference. 

Pep further gave a timeline on De Bruyne’s return and confirmed that there is no chance the midfielder will return before the international break in November. 

“Hopefully, after the international break he can feel good,” added Guardiola. 

Manchester City fans will be hoping De Bruyne can return quickly from injury as he will be crucial in the Premier League title race against Liverpool and Arsenal. 

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Manchester City’s injury crisis

The four time defending Premier League champions Manchester City are going through a bit of injury crisis with many of their star players out injured. 

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With the biggest injury coming in form of Rodri who is out of the season with ACL. Aside from Rodri and De Bruyne, Manchester City are also without Kyle Walker, Jeremy Doky, Jack Grealish and Oscar Bobb.