David Silva is set to miss Manchester City’s top-of-the-table clash with Liverpool as the Premier League champions face mounting injury problems when they go to Anfield on Sunday.
The City captain came off at half time in Saturday's 2-1 win over Southampton with a muscle problem that Pep Guardiola believes will rule him out of both Wednesday's Champions League clash with Atalanta and Sunday's trip to Merseyside.
City will be without five injured players – Aymeric Laporte, Leroy Sane, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Rodri and Silva – for the game against Jurgen Klopp’s league leaders. Four of them started when the two clubs last met, in August’s Community Shield.
“David Silva is injured,” Guardiola said. “Five minutes before the first half ended he told me he had a muscular problem. I didn't speak with the doctor but when it is a muscular problem it is always a minimum of 10-12 days.”
Guardiola has the option of moving Bernardo Silva, who has usually operated as a forward this season, back into the midfield, but he is short of options for the midweek meeting with the Serie A side as Phil Foden, who was sent off in City's 5-1 win over Atalanta last month, is suspended for the rematch.
Guardiola has vowed not to rest players in Italy to save them for Liverpool, explaining: “We're going to play with the best team possible to win at Atalanta and after we go to Anfield. Nobody can assure me that if we don't do what we have to do at Atalanta then we are going to make a better performance against Liverpool.
“The best way to go to Anfield is to play a good game against Atalanta, who have been fighting with the top clubs in Italy for the last two or three seasons.”
City are six points behind Liverpool, but Guardiola denied it is a must-win game against a side who are unbeaten at home in the Premier League since April 2017.
“We are going to try but I don't think so,” he added. “How many centuries have they not lost at Anfield? We will see.”
