Pep Guardiola has ruled £100 million England international Jack Grealish out of this weekend’s derby clash between Manchester United and Premier League champions Man City at the Etihad Stadium.
Due to the sheer number of absences Erik ten Hag has had to contend with throughout much of the campaign – Lisandro Martinez, Rasmus Hojlund, Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw joining the Red Devils walking wounded – it’s probably safe to say Manchester United supporters will feel little sympathy for City as their record signing is rendered unavailable.
Jack Grealish, who opened the scoring in United’s dramatic 2-1 comeback win over City 14 months ago, lasted less than 40 minutes of the 6-2 FA Cup win over Luton Town in the FA Cup.
Visibly distraught as he watched Erling Haaland hit five from the bench, Grealish has now been ruled out for an as-yet undetermined period, with the Manchester derby the first of potentially many matches he stands to miss.
Man City boss Pep Guardiola confirms Jack Grealish injury
“He will not be fit this weekend. When he comes back, I don’t know,” Guardiola tells the Manchester Evening News. “Setbacks are always there in life. He will overcome it.”
Man United have lost twice to City since Marcus Rashford’s late winner secured that statement win for Erik ten Hag’s men in January 2023. After beating the Red Devils in the FA Cup final, the treble-winners cruised to a 3-0 win at Old Trafford, albeit helped by a highly-contentious penalty awarded against Rasmus Hojlund in the first-half.
Hojlund, United’s top scorer and Ten Hag’s most in-form player, will be absent himself this weekend.
United underdogs in Manchester derby
Ten Hag is not expecting any of United’s injured players to make their return in time for Sunday’s 3.30pm kick-off, though the Dutchman has been boosted by the early recoveries of both Raphael Varane and Bruno Fernandes.
Fernandes, playing through the pain, set up Casemiro’s winner in Wednesday’s 1-0 FA Cup win at Nottingham Forest.
“(Varane and Fernandes) fought to be part (of the team),” Ten Hag said. “And they came well out of the game so I think they will be available for Sunday as well.
“I don’t think players will return. So we do it with the squad from (at the City Ground).”
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