Manchester City News: John Stones leaves England camp, Defensive concern for Pep Guardiola

Manchester City News: The 2021/22 season is moving towards its final stretch. But there is some concern in the air as John Stones adds to Pep Guardiola’s defensive woes. 

Pep Guardiola’s Sky Blues are looking to complete a treble this season. But the road won’t be easy for them as tough games await Manchester City in the month of April. 

The Cityzens are set to face Liverpool twice, once in the Premier League and then in the FA Cup. They also have games against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, all between 5th April and 16th April. 

The Sky Blues had a significant gap in the Premier League table. But a brilliant run by Liverpool accompanied by a few dropped points by City has now made the title race interesting. Manchester City now only has a one-point lead over the Reds in the Premier League. 

Manchester City News: John Stones leaves the England squad!

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City defender John Stones was called up for international duty by Gareth Southgate. The England manager had picked him for the friendlies against Switzerland and Ivory Coast.

John Stones was initially in the starting XI against Switzerland. But the defender was replaced by Arsenal’s Ben White minutes before kick-off owing to an injury. 

After the game, Gareth Southgate said, “John Stones felt something in the warm-up. We don’t think it’s too serious. It’s possible he could be okay for the Ivory Coast game. We took him out of the starting XI as we didn’t have time to assess the injury.”

Initial reactions to the injury indicated that it was not much concerning. But this has not turned out to be true. Owing to this, John Stones has left the England camp and has returned to Manchester City to assess the damage. 

At the time of writing this article, it is not known what John Stones has suffered from. However, a statement from the England Football Association revealed that Stones had been sent back to Manchester City as a “precaution”.

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Pep Guardiola has defensive problems!

The injury to John Stones would be deeply concerning to Pep Guardiola. The Spaniard is already without Portuguese defender Ruben Dias in the last few matchdays. 

It is not known when Ruben Dias would return. It is being speculated that he would be back by 10th April. But things get tricky for Manchester City if he returns later than that. 

The Sky Blues may have to opt for the central defensive partnership of Aymeric Laporte and Nathan Ake for the game against Burnley at least. Hence it has to be seen how the duo perform as Manchester City can’t risk losing out more points in the Premier League for now.