Nine players could miss Man City vs Arsenal as Kevin De Bruyne decision looms

Manchester City could be without three players for Sunday’s gigantic showdown with Arsenal including talisman Kevin De Bruyne.

The playmaker was taken off at half-time against Inter Milan on Wednesday due to an unspecified issue that club doctors will update Pep Guardiola on before the weekend. De Bruyne has started each match for City this season, having played almost every minute of their first four Premier League fixtures.

Guardiola suggested he had already planned to take De Bruyne off in midweek prior to him picking up the issue, just days before the visit of title rivals Arsenal. The Blues will be mindful of not over-exerting the Belgian, who missed the first half of last season with a hamstring injury.

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Arsenal themselves will be without captain Martin Odegaard, with the 25-year-old ruled out for a number of weeks due to ligament damage sustained during Norway’s Nations League clash with Austria earlier this month. “It’s something quite significant so we’re going to lose him for a while," Mikel Arteta said on Wednesday.

New summer signing Mikel Merino is not expected to be back from his shoulder injury although fellow new recruit Riccardo Calafiori is set to make the matchday squad after missing the North London Derby due to a calf issue.

Former Man City defender Oleksandr Zinchenko remains a doubt having also missed the win over Spurs due to a calf complaint while Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney are almost certain to miss the trip to Manchester.

Meanwhile, City will be without Nathan Ake until after the next international break in October due to a muscle issue, having been taken off on a stretcher during Netherlands duty earlier this month - much to the annoyance of his club boss.

“Every time he goes [to play for Netherlands], he comes back injured,” Guardiola said last week. Oscar Bobb is not expected back from his leg fracture until towards the end of the year while Savinho's half-time exit against Inter was not thought to be due to injury.