With games coming thick and fast, Arne Slot was already addressing the media about the upcoming clash with Manchester City before the dust had settled on our draw with Aston Villa.
As expected, the manager provided an injury update, starting with Cody Gakpo:
“We’ll have to wait and see. I hope he’s available, but I’m not 100% sure. He hasn’t trained with the team yet—maybe a bit today. It’ll be a close call.”
Next, he discussed Conor Bradley, who picked up a knock at Villa Park:
“Bradley still has to come in, so we don’t know yet. I’d be very surprised if he plays on Sunday or Wednesday against Newcastle—you can assume that won’t happen.”
Slot also confirmed bad news regarding Joe Gomez:
“Joe had surgery for his hamstring injury, so he’ll be out for a long time. He might return just before the end of the season.”
He then gave an update on squad fitness:
“Two players aren’t injured but are returning from injuries—Diogo Jota and Trent Alexander-Arnold—which is why they can’t play full matches back-to-back over 15 days. That would be too risky, as we saw with Conor Bradley.”
Losing key defensive players for multiple games is a significant blow, especially with Trent’s fitness needing careful management. This leaves the squad short at the back during a crucial period, making it vital to avoid further setbacks.
Slot will need to carefully manage his squad, particularly in attack. With Jota and our No.18 being eased back into action, Darwin Núñez could play a key role at the Etihad. Given the reaction to his miss against Villa and his social media activity on Thursday, this could be the perfect chance to prove his critics wrong.
Some will criticize the lack of January signings for leaving the squad thin defensively, but we’ve seen Jarell Quansah step in at right-back when needed.
By next Wednesday, we’ll have played five matches in 15 days, but with only four fixtures in March—just one in the Premier League—there is some relief ahead.
Fingers crossed we navigate this period without further injuries and pick up plenty of points along the way.
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