Pep Guardiola will miss Manchester City‘s Premier League clash against relegation-threatened Leicester City at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night.
The Citizens return to top-flight action after coming from behind to beat Bournemouth 2-1 on Sunday to progress to the semi-final of the FA Cup at Wembley for the seventh successive season.
Man City had previously come out on top in only one of their last six Premier League fixtures and they can ill-afford to drop too many more points as they currently finds themselves involved in a hotly-contested battle to secure Champions League football for next season.
Last season’s Premier League champions currently sit fifth in the table, just one point behind Chelsea in fourth, while there are only seven points separating themselves from Brentford down in 11th spot with nine games still left to play.
Man City will fancy their chances of securing three valuable points against a struggling Leicester outfit, who have lost 13 of their last 14 Premier League games and sit nine points adrift of safety, but the Citizens will have to cope without their manager on the touchline on Wednesday.
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Guardiola to miss Leicester clash through suspension
Indeed, Guardiola was shown a yellow card for dissent in the second half of Man City’s win at the Vitality Stadium, taking his total of bookings for the campaign to three.
Although the Catalan was cautioned in a cup tie, rules state that it still counts towards the Premier League total, meaning the City boss will serve a one-match touchline suspension against Leicester.
Guardiola had been walking a disciplinary tightrope for some time as he was previously booked during Man City’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal back September before receiving his second yellow card of the season in their 3-2 win over Fulham a month later.
The 54-year-old is not the only key Man City figure who could be absent for Wednesday’s fixture, as top scorer Erling Haaland has emerged as an injury doubt after picking up an ankle injury in the win over Bournemouth.
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Haaland an injury doubt for Leicester clash
Shortly after scoring a second-half equaliser, Haaland landed awkwardly on his left ankle following a challenge from Lewis Cook and he eventually hobbled off on the hour mark after initially attempting to carry one.
Haaland was later seen leaving the Vitality Stadium on crutches while wearing a protective boots and Man City now face a nervous wait to learn the extent of the striker’s injury.
The Norwegian, who has scored three goals in his previous two meetings with Leicester, would relish the opportunity to face a struggling Foxes side who have conceded the second-highest number of goals (65) in the Premier League this season.
Should Haaland not be fit to feature, Guardiola will likely call upon Omar Marmoush, who replaced Man City’s No.9 against Bournemouth and scored what proved to be the winning goal just three minutes after entering the field of play.
Marmoush has now scored five goals in 11 appearances for the Citizens since joining in January, including four strikes across his last three Premier League home games.
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