Man City’s Rodri to miss Crystal Palace game though getting ‘sharper every day’

LONDON – Manchester City are hoping that their Ballon d’Or winner Rodri will be back in action sooner rather than later, as they prepare for their Premier League game at Crystal Palace on Dec 14 amid a potential title chase.

The Spanish midfielder continues to recover from a hamstring injury that has sidelined him since October.

City could use the influential 29-year-old in ​their title bid as they have narrowed the gap with Arsenal and sit two points behind the leaders in second place heading into this weekend, although the Gunners could push ahead again before City’s game.

Mikel Arteta’s men took on Wolverhampton Wanderers on Dec 13, with the match kicking off after press time.

“Rodri is training really well, and his rehab is going well,” City assistant manager Kolo Toure said on ​Dec 12.

“He looks sharper ​and sharper every day we see him, but for sure, I don't think we're going to see him for the weekend. He is going through the process.”

Toure was filling in for City boss Pep Guardiola, who missed the pre-game press conference due to what the club called a “personal matter” that will not affect the Palace game.

“Yeah Pep is fine. It’s a small matter that didn’t bring him here but everything is fine,” Toure added. “He will be back (on Dec 14) for sure.”

While defender John Stones was absent from the 2-1 win over Real Madrid in the Champions League in midweek and missed last week’s 3-0 Premier League victory over Sunderland, Toure said squad selection will be finalised after their training session on Dec 13.

“The ​players are off today (Dec 12). Tomorrow, when everyone comes back, we will know more about the players,” he said. “It was John’s thigh. That’s the problem. I’m sure it wasn’t something too big, and I think he will be back soon.”

Toure also confirmed that Dec 14 will be the final game in which Omar Marmoush and Rayan Ait-Nouri are available before they leave to join Egypt and Algeria respectively for the Africa Cup of Nations, which kicks off on Dec 21.

The assistant manager, who permanently joined the backroom staff in July, also took the chance in front of the media to praise Guardiola for the work he has done at City.

“We have the best manager in the world ​who is doing an incredible job every day. His passion for the game, he loves the players, and he loves his staff. We know he will ​take us as far as we can to win that league. For us, we focus on what we can do,” he said.

High-flying Palace, meanwhile, started this weekend in fourth and their manager Oliver Glasner has done his homework on how to stop City – although it is not too big of a secret.

“We have to control their attacks. It’s not so easy. Everybody wants to do it, especially this season,” he said.

“They’re doing very well and it’s not so easy, because they have many different options.

“We watched them when they played at Fulham (a 5-4 win for City), because we had the next game against Fulham, and also their Real Madrid game away. They’re very impressive, especially how they attack, how they create their chances, and how they score their goals.

“But on the other side, we could see that they are also giving opportunities to create chances and to score.”

On his side’s top-four challenge, he added: “It’s a huge challenge, but again, that’s what we want. We want to play against the best teams, and now we have the next chance to show that we also progressed and developed and that we are competitive.” REUTERS