Manchester City: Kevin De Bruyne out for three months
By Orri Benatar
Kevin De Bruyne’s injury in training has been evaluated and he will be out for three months. On the bright side, he will not require surgery.
Manchester City and Belgium star Kevin De Bruyne will officially be missing three months from the knee injury he suffered on Wednesday during training. He will not require surgery for his lateral collateral ligament lesion on his right knee. He suffered an injury on the same knee two years ago, causing him to miss more than 10 games in that campaign.
We can confirm @DeBruyneKev has suffered a lateral collateral ligament (LCL) lesion in his right knee.
— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 17, 2018
No surgery is required, and the midfielder is expected to be out for around three months.
Get well soon, KDB! #mancity pic.twitter.com/hozcvnF8BX
De Bruyne’s absence will mean Pep Guardiola will have a few choices to replace the playmaking, central midfielder. In the match against Arsenal, Ilkay Gundogan, Fernandinho, and Bernardo Silva started as the three midfielders in the victory. David Silva will return to the lineup soon and youngster Phil Foden could see some valuable minutes in the months to come.
What matches is De Bruyne missing?
Assuming De Bruyne is out for three months from today, the earliest he can return is November 17th. Till that date, the Citizens have 11 games in the league and four Champions League group stage matches. Of the 11 EPL contests, Man City will play three of the big six sides.
De Bruyne will miss the Anfield clash against Liverpool (October 7), the first game for the club at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (October 28), and the Manchester Derby at home (November 11). The earliest De Bruyne could return would be on November 24th when City are at West Ham.
The Champions League matches are the bigger concern in my opinion. The title race likely won’t be lost in the three months, with City’s depth in attack and midfield just fine for some easier opposition. As for Europe, missing four group games could spell some trouble in the crucial competition for Guardiola.
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Man City will be a top-seed in their group and could be paired with Dortmund, Napoli, and Inter among other solid teams across Europe. Even without De Bruyne, Man City should take care of at least one of the teams in two games. The tougher opposition could take advantage of this opportunity and steal some points. It got a little more difficult for the English champions without their best player till mid-November.