The Belgian player was injured in a 2-0 win over Aston Villa and his manager is unsure when his star will be back in action.
Manchester City briefly returned to the top of the table for the first time in more than 18 months on Wednesday night, but will hopefully not suffer a sad blow to their title hopes in the hard-fought 2- 0 of them on Aston Villa.
Pep Guardiola’s side may have extended their winning streak to nine games thanks to goals from Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan but the sight of talisman Kevin De Bruyne leaving the pitch injured on more than a few worries cause.
The Belgian suddenly withdrew after a challenge from Jack Grealish in the 60th minute and is feared to have suffered from muscle strain.
Guardiola has not confirmed the extent of the injury after that and the attacking midfielder will have tests in the coming days to assess the extent of the problem.
“I have not spoken to the doctor,” the Mayor said at his post-match press conference. “Kevin put his hand on his leg, so I feel it’s going to be a bit of a muscle.
“It’s normal, these things happen with so many games. ”
There will be a city trip to Cheltenham League Two on Saturday and it looks like De Bruyne would have been resting for the FA Cup fourth round tie anyway. However, in a full title race, Guardiola is praying that his player will be eligible for a return to action in the Premier League next week.
De Bruyne is still a major Catalan creator and, with well-mannered defenses trying to stop City, he remains the most likely player to force a break with this kind of inspirational pass. no other player in England is capable of production.
In a season when the number of City goals is down sharply – 19 fewer than the 50 goals in the Premier League they had at the same level last year – De Bruyne is on target to hit his own supporting record. He already has 10 after 18 City games, as he tries to beat the record of 20 he shares with Thierry Henry.
However, Guardiola is in a lucky position not to rip De Bruyne back into action. There is no doubt that he is unable to provide the much needed rest for De Bruyne, as City have all three Premier League games against relegation fighters West Brom, Sheffield United and Burnley.
That soft run of games is followed by the big clash with Liverpool on February 7 and Guardiola De Bruyne may have decided to put in cotton wool ahead of the trip to Anfield, where City have won once in 40 years.
Certainly, his side are starting to look like they can deal without the 29-year-old, thanks to his return to form a number of key players.
Bernardo Silva scored the opening goal against Villa and the Portuguese midfielder is rediscovering the quality that led to Guardiola ‘s selection for the 2018-19 player of the year.
“This is one of the most intelligent players I have ever seen,” the Barcelona vice-captain said. “He can do everything and he also has the quality to achieve goals.
“It has to be more important in the final third if he wants to be a great player, so I’m happy for him. His performance was very good for him and very good for us. And it was a specific goal. ”
Gundogan, meanwhile, has threatened to add goals to his game now that he is using it later. His latest strike may have come from the penalty spot but the German has now scored five times in his last eight appearances.
Academy result Phil Foden has also gone up to a late mark by adding another offensive measure to City’s regular play.
Against Villa, the England international created six chances and had five blows – even defeating Lionel Messi to become the youngest player in Guardiola ‘s managerial role to have more than 10 tackles. league game.
Dean Smith’s side threatened to intimidate City and the visitors deserve a lot of credit for what they did which was very impressive, especially as it arrived just three days after their players return to training after a major Covid-19 break at the club.
But City still had 28 hits, including nine on target, and managed to get the job done with De Bruyne off the pitch.
They have survived without it before, of course. De Bruyne lost half of their last season winning title through injury.
Any side would miss a player of his quality, of course, but City are better equipped to deal without them than they have been for a while.