Manchester City secured a 5-1 victory over AEK Athens in the Champions League on Tuesday night, with Erling Haaland an unused substitute after a knock sustained in Saturday's win over Ipswich Town. The result has shifted attention to Saturday's Premier League trip to Aston Villa, and MEN Sport has assessed the injury concerns at the Etihad.
Haaland and Gvardiol set for Villa return
Erling Haaland did not feature in open training, making his presence on the bench against AEK a surprise. After the match, Enzo Maresca confirmed the striker will start against Villa on Saturday. "He's okay to start on Saturday," Maresca said. "We had five or six players on the bench who ready to go in the side but, at the same time, they had a rest so we're happy with that."
Josko Gvardiol appeared to injure himself in the second half, clattering into a challenge that earned a booking, and was later substituted. Maresca reassured fans in his TNT Sports interview that the defender is okay. "No he's okay," Maresca explained. "He had a small problem during the warm up with his back but he is okay."
Nunes, O'Reilly and Kovacic doubts
Matheus Nunes, who was forced off against Ipswich with a groin issue, was described by Maresca as 'more or less okay' but did not feature in open training and was not in the squad to face AEK. His return date remains unknown.
Nico O'Reilly, like Gvardiol, has a back problem that has bothered him since the Coventry win, and he was not in the squad for the AEK match. Mateo Kovacic was forced off on Saturday with an unknown injury, took a seat on the bench for the remainder of that game, and was absent from open training and the AEK squad. Both have unknown return dates.
Semenyo out for eight weeks
Antoine Semenyo is set to miss the next eight weeks with a leg injury. Maresca said on Monday: "In the first moment we expect an even worse injury so we were more worried but after the scan we are less worried. It could be eight weeks. Now the most important thing is to recover it. When he is back, around December, we have a new player. It's not muscular."
