Injury expert Dr. Rajpal Brar believes Manchester City defender Nathan Ake is a major doubt for the Premier League meeting with Arsenal next week.
What happened to Ake against Bayern Munich?
Ake kept his place in Pep Guardiola’s side as City qualified for the Champions League semi-finals after a 1-1 second-leg draw with Bayern Munich.
However, it wasn’t all good news for the Sky Blues, with Ake going off with an apparent injury in the second half. The Dutchman held his hamstring after stretching to receive a pass and signalled straightaway to the bench, with Aymeric Laporte coming on in his place.
A top-of-the-table and potential season-defining clash with Arsenal is scheduled for Wednesday, and it looks as if Ake, who was set for a scan yesterday, may not feature following Brar’s comments.
Footbal London relayed a Twitter post from Brar in the last 48 hours regarding Ake’s injury. The injury expert believes that the timeline for a return will depend on the severity and location of injury, with a minimum timeframe of one week and maximum of 10 weeks or more.
"Nathan Ake right hamstring injury. Timeline depends the severity & location of injury (near tendon typically longer).
"Typically grade 1 is 1-2 weeks, grade 2 is 3-6 weeks & grade 3 is 10+ weeks depending on surgery or not. Higher risk for high pace players/positions.
Would be a blow for Guardiola…
It remains to be seen if Ake is definitely out of the meeting with Arsenal, but you’d expect that his involvement against Sheffield United tomorrow and Arsenal next week is in real doubt. Losing Ake for two crucial games would be a real blow for Guardiola, with the 28-year-old making 36 appearances in all competitions this season.
The Netherlands international has shown his versatility by turning out as a centre-back and left-back and was even hailed by Shaun Goater following his display against the Gunners in the FA Cup earlier this ear after scoring the winner and keeping Bukayo Saka quiet.
"He was brilliant how he played and in keeping (Bukayo) Saka quiet. It was a real man-of-the-match performance. He was absolutely brilliant again on Friday and it was capped with that great finish."
City should have plenty of options to replace Ake, though, with the likes of Laporte, Sergio Gomez, Kyle Walker and Rico Lewis just a few defenders who Guardiola may need to turn to. However, as per WhoScored, Ake has outperformed Laporte, Gomez, Walker and Lewis this season, showing how his absence could be a big blow.
