Man City vs Chelsea early injury news as 8 ruled out and 4 doubts
A look at the early injury news surrounding Chelsea and Manchester City ahead of Sunday’s Premier League clash.
Chelsea are back in action on Sunday after a turbulent start to 2026. The Blues sacked Enzo Maresca on New Year’s Day despite keeping Chelsea firmly in the Champions League race up to this point. The search for a new boss is now ongoing, and the Blues will hope to wrap up the search quickly.
Manchester City have no such issues, and they are in the thick of the Premier League title race after a superb run of form over the last couple of months. Here we round up the latest injury news surrounding both teams.
Mateo Kovacic - Out
Kovacic is out until March, with Guardiola saying at the time of the injury: “He will be out for a while... He still has a problem with the ankle; a little calcification [is] still there. We'll wait on him for the last part of the season.”
Rayan Ait Nouri and Omar Marmoush - Out (International)
Both players are at the African Cup of Nations.
John Stones - Out
Stones is not expected back until mid-January.
Oscar Bobb - Out
The same applies to Bobb.
Nico Gonzalez - Doubt
Gonzalez has a fresh issue and will need to be assessed ahead of this one.
Savinho - Doubt
The same applies for Savinho, and Guardiola said the injury did ‘not look good’.
Moises Caicedo - Out (Suspended)
Caicedo has reached the yellow card limit and will miss this game.
Jorrel Hato - Doubt
Hato missed the last game and will remain a doubt here.
Marc Cucurella - Doubt
Maresca said prior to his sacking: “He had a small [hamstring] issue against Aston Villa in the last game, but it's OK overall. Hopefully, he can be available for the next game.”
Romeo Lavia - Out
Lavia is not expected back from his hamstring issue until early January. Maresca said earlier in the month: “It's a muscle problem. We don't know yet when he can be back. We don't know [if it will be long or short-term].”
Levi Colwill - Out
Colwill is out for the season with a serious knee injury. It was confirmed back in August: “Levi has today undergone successful surgery [for] an ACL injury. Medical assessments confirmed surgery would be the required course of action. Levi will now begin his recovery and be supported by the medical department at Cobham during his rehab phase.”
Dario Essugo - Out
Essugo is likely to return in January. Maresca has said: “Dario, he was okay, started some sessions with us, but he needs to slow down a little bit and will be out, but we hope nothing important. We hope he will be fine.”
Mykhailo Mudryk - Out (Suspended)
Mudryk is suspended. A club statement in the summer read: “We can confirm that Mykhailo Mudryk has been charged with Anti-Doping Rule Violations alleging the presence and/or use of a prohibited substance, in terms of Regulations 3 and 4 of The FA's Anti-Doping Regulations. As this is an ongoing case, we are not in a position to comment further at this time.” Mudryk is not included in the final count due to the nature of his absence.
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