The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
City’s Laporte could be out for six months
Manchester City expect Aymeric Laporte to be out for up to six months, manager Pep Guardiola has revealed.
The Premier League champions confirmed last week Laporte had undergone surgery to repair cartilage and meniscus damage in his right knee.
No timeframe was put on the Frenchman’s rehabilitation at that point but Guardiola has now indicated it could be well into the new year.
Asked how long the 25-year-old will be out, the City boss said: “Long – five or six months. January or February maybe, next year.”
The injury to Laporte has exposed City’s lack of cover in the central defensive department following the departure of former captain Vincent Kompany at the end of last season.
The news is at least offset by the return to fitness of England international John Stones after a thigh injury.
“He’s good, he trained good,” said Guardiola at a press conference, indicating Stones will be back in contention for the champions’ trip to Norwich today.
City will travel to Carrow Road with forward Raheem Sterling in blistering form. The forward continued his great start to the season with two fine performances for England during the international break.
He has now scored eight goals in seven games for club and country and has even drawn comparisons with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Guardiola hopes he pays no attention to such hype.
He said: “I’m so happy for him, for the way he’s playing here and with the national team, but hopefully he won’t read too much.
“He cannot listen to these kind of things – that would be good for him, because nobody can compare with Cristiano or Messi.”
Norwich have earned praise for some of their play this season, despite collecting just three points, and Guardiola is not expecting a stroll for his side today.
He said: “I’m really impressed. They destroyed the Championship last season. They play with incredible courage, good build-up. They have a good mentality, team spirit.”
Alisson Becker and Naby Keita will again be sidelined for Liverpool’s Premier League clash with Newcastle.
Adrian will keep his place in goal as Alisson continues to recover from the calf injury he suffered on the opening day of the season that is likely to rule him out for another month at least.
Reds boss Jurgen Klopp is hopeful midfielder Keita (hip/groin) will return to training next week.
Sean Longstaff is out for Newcastle after suffering an ankle injury in training.
Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial are out of injury-hit Manchester United’s Premier League clash with Leicester.
Midfielder Pogba (ankle) and forward Martial (thigh) have not recovered over the international break, while defenders Luke Shaw (hamstring), Diogo Dalot (hip) and Eric Bailly (knee) remain out.
Right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka (back) and midfielder Jesse Lingard (illness) are major doubts for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side.
Leicester have no new injury issues after all of their players returned from international duty unscathed.
Tottenham should be boosted by the return of several players for the visit of Crystal Palace in the Premier League today.
Record signing Tanguy Ndombele was back in training this week after a thigh problem and will hope to start.
Fellow summer recruit Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring) is available alongside Eric Dier (hip) and Kyle Walker-Peters (hamstring), but Davinson Sanchez is a doubt with an ankle injury.
Argentina internationals Giovani Lo Celso and Juan Foyth are definitely sidelined too with hip and ankle problems respectively.
Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson will assess Scott Dann and James McArthur.
Wolves will be without suspended defender Willy Boly when they mark 130 years of playing at Molineux against Chelsea today.
However, Romain Saiss and Matt Doherty will both be available.
Saiss is fit despite returning early from international duty with Morocco and is in contention to replace Boly along with Jesus Vallejo.
Chelsea head coach Frank Lampard will welcome back Antonio Rudiger.
Pedro has recovered from a hamstring issue and will be available, while Mateo Kovacic is also fit for Lampard’s side. N’Golo Kante (ankle) remains sidelined.