Man City injury news v Brighton: star man could return to end Liverpool’s title tilt
Kevin De Bruyne could be in contention for a start in Manchester City’s final game of the Premier League season against Brighton & Hove Albion.
The Belgian has been out of action since April when he suffered a hamstring injury in a 1-0 league win over Tottenham Hotspur, capping off a torrid season.
Will De Bruyne play against Brighton? Five key things to know…
- Manchester City can win a second-consecutive Premier League title with victory over Brighton on Sunday.
- Pep Guardiola’s side are one point clear of second-placed Liverpool going into the final day of the season.
- And midfielder Kevin De Bruyne could be in contention to play some part, having returned to training in midweek.
- The Belgian has been out with a hamstring problem since April, the latest in an injury-hit captain.
- However, Sunday will be too soon for Fernandinho.
De Bruyne has made just 18 Premier League appearances this season having dealt with various injury problems which has seen him unable to make much impact on the Man City team.
However, thankfully for Pep Guardiola, De Bruyne’s absence has not been missed too much with Bernardo Silva stepping up. But the Spaniard is considering using De Bruyne to help City over the line.
“He [De Bruyne] trained the last two day and could [be involved},” he told reporters.
However, Guardiola did have bad news on another midfielder Fernandinho, who has missed the past two league games.
“Fernandinho is not able. Maybe FA Cup [final vs Watford], we will see.”
Man City go into Sunday’s game knowing a win will secure them their second-consecutive Premier League title, becoming the first team to retain since Manchester United in 2009.
The Citizens are a point clear of second-placed Liverpool who have arguably the tougher test against Wolves, and Man City are heavy favourites to retain at 1/8.
Guardiola: Man City’s comeback is unexpected
The past week of football has been spoilt with dramatic comebacks in the Champions League with Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur overturning three-goal deficits to set up an all-English final.
And should Man City end up with the title this season they will have completed a comeback of their own – albeit slightly more drawn out than those experienced in midweek.
City started 2019 seven points behind Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table and Guardiola has admitted he did not expect his side to be in control of the title race going into the final game of the season.
“It is better to focus on what we have to do,” he added.
“If we win we don’t have to look at anything else.
“It’s a dream to be here, I didn’t expect it when we were seven points behind [Liverpool, at the start of 2019].
“We’ve shown many things. If we make back to back it would be nice but nothing is going to change too much – the fact is we have done incredibly well all season.”
