Manchester City’s Injury Meltdown Before the Derby: Thirteen Doubts and a Brutal New Blow
The first Manchester derby of the 2025–26 season lands on Sunday 14 September at the Etihad, and the build up has been taken over by injury bulletins. The headline today is clear enough. Omar Marmoush will miss the game after suffering a bruised knee ligament on Egypt duty, a fresh setback that deepens Pep Guardiola’s selection headache just days before kick off.
Across social and fan media a widely shared list claims thirteen Manchester City players are at risk of missing the derby. That headline number is not plucked from thin air. City Xtra compiled every confirmed absentee plus every ongoing doubt into one running list, and it adds up to an eye watering pile. Even so, not all cases are equal. Some are definite outs, some are minor knocks, and a couple may even return in time. Sorting the noise from the news is the key to understanding what City are really facing.
What is Actually Confirmed Today
Marmoush is out. He left Egypt’s World Cup qualifier against Burkina Faso inside ten minutes and scans pointed to a bruised knee ligament. He is flying back for further assessment and will not feature on Sunday. That is a punch to the attack given his quick adaptation since a January move from Eintracht Frankfurt.
Rayan Cherki remains unavailable. Pep Guardiola confirmed around the end of August that the summer signing had suffered a thigh problem that would keep him out for roughly six to eight weeks. That timeline places his return after the derby and likely into late October.
Mateo Kovacic is also sidelined. City announced on 2 June that he underwent Achilles surgery, and multiple outlets reported he would miss the Club World Cup and spend the summer in rehab. Nothing has since suggested an early return.
Those three are the clearest cases. All are significant. Cherki and Kovacic cut into City’s creativity and control between the lines, while Marmoush’s direct running has been one of the brighter sparks in an uneven start.
Who is Touch and Go
This is where the viral list runs ahead of the facts. There are genuine concerns across the squad, yet the severity and outlook differ player to player.
John Stones withdrew from England’s camp with a minor issue and returned to the club for assessment. The Football Association’s update framed it as precautionary. That suggests monitoring rather than a long layoff, though a derby start still hangs on late week tests.
Phil Foden has been managing an ankle knock since mid August. Reports from the last fortnight described optimism for his return after the international break, while other briefings kept the door open without firm guarantees. He is trending in the right direction, yet not locked in.
Savinho missed early fixtures but has stepped up his work during the break, with fresh images showing him back on the grass. That points to an imminent comeback, again dependent on how he comes through final sessions.
Josko Gvardiol sat out the last two matches with a minor issue. London reports last week suggested he could be ready right after the break, which puts the derby in play if he ticks the last boxes.
Rayan Ait Nouri took a knock against Tottenham, and Algeria did not call him up so he could recover. Local coverage flagged the injury during that Spurs defeat; the tone since has been cautious rather than alarmist. Fitness will be checked late.
Abdukodir Khusanov came off at Brighton with a calf issue and withdrew from Uzbekistan duty. Timelines floated around the two-week mark, which raises a genuine doubt for Sunday.
Rico Lewis and Nico O’Reilly both left the England Under-21 squad with injuries, confirmed by club and FA updates. Their status is unknown for the derby until City’s final training checks.
Marcus Bettinelli has been carrying an unspecified issue since the start of the campaign, according to multiple roundups. He signed a one-year deal in June and sits behind Gianluigi Donnarumma, James Trafford, and Stefan Ortega in the current depth chart. Availability for the bench may come down to the medical call on the day.
Kalvin Phillips is still rehabbing an Achilles problem from late spring. Several reports through the window indicated he would remain at City while completing his recovery rather than push a move. Even when passed fit, he is not expected to be thrust straight in.
Finally, note that the thirteen at risk figure mixes confirmed absentees with precautionary withdrawals and players building back to full speed. It captures the scale of the headache, not a definitive list of derby scratches. Treat it as a snapshot of uncertainty rather than a medical bulletin.
What This Means For Guardiola’s Plan
If Stones is not ready, the back line loses its most flexible piece for rest defence and build up. Ait Nouri’s availability matters because he gives City an out ball on the left and the option to invert or overlap depending on the matchup.
If he and Gvardiol both pass fit, the manager can choose between a natural left back or a sturdier left sided centre back who can slide wide. If not, Nathan Ake’s reliability becomes the safety net.
The forward picture shifts most with Marmoush out. Erling Haaland remains the reference point, though City have leaned on Marmoush to attack space off the shoulder and create chaos between centre back and full back.
If Savinho makes it, his direct dribbling can still stretch Manchester United’s back four. If Foden is cleared, he restores a balance between chaos and control by operating as a right-sided creator who can drift inside and combine.
If neither can start, the onus falls on Bernardo and Jeremy Doku to progress the ball and on Haaland to dominate early attacks.
The bench could be youthful again if Khusanov, Lewis, and O’Reilly are not fully cleared. Guardiola has not hesitated to trust academy pieces for targeted jobs, and the schedule ahead is heavy with Napoli and Arsenal following the derby. Rotation choices will be pragmatic rather than ideal.
Bigger Picture
City’s official preview sets the kick off at 16:30 UK on Sunday. NBC’s listings in the United States match that slot.
The manager speaks to the media before the weekend, and that is when final calls usually firm up. Expect the list of definites to be shorter than the social media graphic and the number of late fitness tests to be longer than anyone at the club would prefer.
For all the setbacks, City still fields a core that can control a derby. Rodri’s return to rhythm, Bernardo’s range, Gvardiol or Ake for stability, plus Haaland’s form coming off a five-goal blast for Norway, remind you why Guardiola’s side rarely panics.
United will sense vulnerability and target City’s left side if Ait Nouri is short or if Stones is missing. City will try to tilt the game by controlling the central lanes and by feeding Haaland early to pin the centre backs and open space for runners.
Final Thoughts
The viral claim that thirteen City players are at risk speaks to the mood rather than the medical sheet. The hard news today is Marmoush out, Cherki out, Kovacic out. Everything else sits on the sliding scale between probable and possible.
That still qualifies as an injury meltdown this early in the season, though it is not the apocalyptic picture the list implies. Sunday will be a test of depth, structure, and nerve as much as talent.
