Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has confirmed that Kevin De Bruyne and Ederson will miss Saturday's FA Cup quarter-final clash with Newcastle United at the Etihad Stadium.
Ederson was forced off with a muscle injury after being hurt in a challenge to foul Liverpool's Darwin Nunez during last weekend's 1-1 draw in the Premier League at Anfield.
Recent reports have suggested that the Brazilian will face up to four weeks on the sidelines, making him a doubt for Premier League fixtures against Arsenal, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace after the international break.
Meanwhile, De Bruyne has been omitted from the Belgium squad this month after their head coach Domenico Tedesco revealed that the playmaker is nursing a groin injury that he "has been struggling with in the last matches."
De Bruyne started Man City's showdown with Liverpool last time out, but was angered to be withdrawn by Guardiola on the 69-minute mark.
© Reuters
Both De Bruyne and Ederson are unable to represent their respective countries against England at Wembley Stadium later this month, and Guardiola has issued an update on the fitness of the Citizens duo.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday ahead of Man City's meeting with Newcastle, Guardiola said: "Kevin's not ready. He already played in Anfield with some problems.
"But he's getting better. He's not ready for tomorrow but we spoke with the manager from Belgium, Domenico Tedesco, and he decide I'm grateful because he didn't feel good and he could recover for the rest of the season.
"He played well [at Anfield]. All the players have problems but the day after he didn't feel good, but it's better to take care."
© Reuters
"[Ederson] is getting better," Guardiola added. "Hopefully he'll be ready after the international break. Tomorrow for sure [he is out].
"He'll have two weeks off then, he'll recover, we'll see how he feels. Hopefully as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, Guardiola has revealed that Jack Grealish is back in first-team training and is in contention to feature against Newcastle.
The attacker, who has been left out of Gareth Southgate's England squad this month, has been sidelined for the last three matches with a groin injury.
"Yeah, Jack is getting better," said the Catalan boss. "He'll be selected in the group [for this weekend]."
Man City are bidding to win their 10th successive FA Cup tie and become the first team in the competition's history to reach a sixth successive semi-final when they face a Newcastle outfit who have lost 15 of their last 16 visits to the Etihad.
No Data Analysis info
