STONES SWEATS BUT KDB’S A BOOST

BY JEREMY CROSS AND DAVID MCDONNELL

JOHN STONES fears losing his battle to be fit for Manchester City’s crunch showdown with Arsenal.

But in a boost to the champions Kevin De Bruyne is winning his race to face the Londoners.

City host the league leaders at the Etihad on Sunday in a clash that will have a huge bearing on who becomes champions.

Stones (left) is worried he will be forced to sit it out, after coming off with a muscle injury in England’s 2-2 draw with Belgium on Tuesday night.

He sat on the bench for the remainder of the game with a glum look on his face – and limped out of Wembley admitting he had no idea how serious the problem was.

The defender is undergoing scans in Manchester but is not hopeful of lining up against Arsenal.

Stones has been in superb form and his absence would be a huge blow to Pep Guardiola.

The City boss is also sweating on the fitness of Kyle Walker, who was injured on England duty after tweaking his hamstring.

But Guardiola has been boosted by the news that De Bruyne (left) is winning his battle to be fit to face Mikel Arteta’s Gunners.

De Bruyne withdrew from Belgium’s friendlies against Republic of Ireland and England to focus on making a full recovery from a groin complaint.

The midfielder is understood to have taken part in a full City training session on Tuesday – and is set to start against Arsenal.

City could also be boosted by the return of Jack Grealish to their squad this weekend.

Grealish has been sidelined since suffering a recurrence of a groin injury in the 6-2 FA Cup win at Luton last month.