Pep Guardiola Confirms Manchester City Injury Blow for Arsenal Game

Nathan Ake is battling to be fit for the Champions League game with Real Madrid after being ruled out of the Premier League game with Arsenal.

Pep Guardiola confirmed that the Manchester City defender will not be able to play on Wednesday after picking up a hamstring injury against Bayern Munich last week. Having already missed the FA Cup semi-final, Ake will sit out the match against Arsenal and the manager could not confirm if he will be fit for the Champions League clash in two weeks.

Ake has been an essential part of the City defence this season, with Guardiola saying after the World Cup that the team could not play well without him. He was replaced by Aymeric Laporte for the final part of the game against Bayern, and the Spaniard is the obvious pick to take his place against Arsenal.

"It's very frustrating," Ake said in Munich after suffering his injury. "This season I've been mostly injury-free. We'll see how it is but hopefully it isn't too bad."

City have the second-best defence in the league, having conceded just 28 goals in their 30 games to date. However, they are going up against the second-best attack with Arsenal smashing in 77 goals - just one fewer than the reigning champion - and Guardiola expects them to suffer in parts of the match against a side that has led the league for so long.