Manchester City fans, do not despair. Pep Guardiola will fix it. At least that‘s what he promises. After a 2-1 victory over Watford in the Carabao Cup last night, the only valuable question from the press was (obviously) the situation in the club after Rodri‘s season-ending injury. The Spain international is the corner stone of City‘s midfield and there are countless statistic data which shows how much game have Manchester lost without him (one third of their games). So, his injury is surely a big blow, but City‘s coach remains calm. After all, he cannot show any signs of panic, at least not in front of the media, fans or his players.BREAKING: Rodri suffers a season-ending injuryThe Spanish tactician didn‘t rule anything out, at least not while the doctors give their final opinion on the matter.”Rodri will be out for a long time, a while. There are some opinions that it will be less than we expect, but unfortunately he was injured and right now we’re waiting for the final phone calls from him and the doctors to know exactly what he has and the type of surgery he has to get” Guardiola said after the win over Watford.𝐑𝐨𝐝𝐫𝐢 𝐎𝐮𝐭? 🚑Since his Premier League debut in August 2019, Manchester City have lost a third of their league games without Rodri in the side (7/21).If reports of Rodri’s season-ending injury are true, can City’s title rivals capitalise on their misfortune?— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) September 23, 2024 But also, as the true coach, he emphasized that Rodri‘s injury certainly won‘t be an excuse for him and his players in a title race with Arsenal. In fact, he was optimistic about the chance to win the Premier League title for the fourth year in a row.”We will have a good season, I trust a lot in my players. I have the duty to find a solution. Rodri is irreplaceable. When a team doesn’t play with the best midfielder in the world for a long, long time of course it is a big blow but my duty is to find a solution so that we remain competitive as we have been for many years. When one player is irreplaceable you have to do it as a team and this is going to happen. I feel sorry for him. Recover best as possible, we wait for you, and go for it. This is the challenge. Go to Newcastle, try to win, do what we have done for many years. Simple as that” said the Spaniard. Rodri has been touted as a potential Ballon d’Or winner this year after his influential role in City’s record fourth consecutive Premier League title and Spain’s success at Euro 2024. The former Atletico Madrid player has lost just one of his last 84 games for club and country.ELF CUP ROUND 3TuesdayChelsea – Barrow 4-0 (3-0)/Nkunku 8, 15, Farman 28 og, Neto 48/Man City – Watford 2-0 (2-0)/Doku 5, Nunes 38/Walsall – Leicester 0-0Wycombe – Aston Villa 0-0Wednesday21:45: (1.12) Arsenal (8.00) Bolton (16.0)22:00: (1.35) Liverpool (4.80) West Ham (7.50)***odds are subject to change***
