Injuries will not stop City
Champs unlikely to be affected by De Bruyne’s absence for Huddersfield tie
MANCHESTER City will look to shrug off the loss of Kevin de Bruyne through injury when they play Huddersfield this weekend.
The champions opened their season with a convincing win at Arsenal last weekend but have been rocked by the loss of De Bruyne, who suffered a knee injury in training.
The Belgium midfielder was an integral part of the City side that won the league last season.
But though his influence will be missed, defender Kyle Walker says City have a deep enough squad to cope.
“Kevin is a great player and it’s just unfortunate that it’s happened to him in training but there’s more than enough depth in the squad,” Walker told reporters.
“We don’t just rely on one player. It’s a team game and whoever steps in will do well. Obviously it’s a big loss but we’ve got more than enough cover.”
City have failed to score in their past four home games with Huddersfield, a record the visitors’ manager David Wagner is keen to increase to five.
The German has instilled a stylish brand of football at the club but knows against clubs like City – and the rest of the “big six”, he has to be more pragmatic.
“Against these six teams you sometimes have to, because of the quality of the opponent, get used to a different idea and set-up and mindset as well,” he said.
“I think in the last season we showed we were able to produce both.”
City were among eight teams to win their opening match, including Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham.
Buoyed by some big summer signings, optimism is high on Merseyside that Liverpool could win the title for the first time since 1990.
Liverpool travel to Crystal Palace on Monday, a side that has won four of their past eight meetings, and who also won their first match of the season, at Fulham.
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp will rotate, with captain Jordan Henderson, new signing Fabinho, Adam Lallana and striker Daniel Sturridge all pushing for starting spots.
Chelsea welcome an Arsenal side reeling from defeat at home to City on day one, and further wounded by injuries to their left-backs.
New Arsenal manager Unai Emery said he hopes Nacho Monreal may recover from injury in time to play.
“Nacho started working with the group yesterday, maybe he can arrive for the next match.
“Against Chelsea we are going to analyse the opposition. We are going there to win, with this intention against Chelsea.”
Tottenham will be looking to avoid a similar let-down to the start of last season, when they followed up a win over Newcastle with just one point from their next two matches.
That dropped them behind City and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris believes they must make a strong start this season if they are to compete for the title.
“It’s important to keep focused because we cannot lose points easily in the first few games,” Lloris told the Evening Standard.
“It’s important to start (the season) in the right way – like we did against Newcastle. The first game is always important. Mentally, we proved we were ready.
“There are plenty of opportunities for winning trophies. Step by step, we need to put the right things into the season to build confidence. It’s all about spirit. Everyone must be ready to help the team. We know each other well and in the Premier League you cannot switch off. It’s impossible.”
Manchester United travel to Brighton, while Bournemouth and Watford, the other two sides victorious last weekend, play at West Ham and Burnley respectively.
Cardiff meet Newcastle, Southampton are away to Everton and Leicester take on Wolves in the weekend’s other matches.