Man City injury list: Players out, potential return dates, predicted lineup for next game vs. Newcastle originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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Now that they have secured a place in the FA Cup fifth round, Manchester City will try to close the Premier League gap on Arsenal even further as they welcome Newcastle to the Etihad on Saturday.
City have won four straight across all competitions and have not tasted defeat in almost a month, leaving them just four points back of the Gunners at the top of the league table.
Newcastle, meanwhile, climbed out of their slump last time out in league play with a win over Tottenham, a result which led to Thomas Frank’s dismissal. A subsequent FA Cup win over Aston Villa left the Magpies with a turnaround in form leading into this match.
The dramatic denouement at Anfield was perhaps enough to move into that conversation, but success on Merseyside might have come at a cost for Guardiola.
Man City injury list
Below is the latest injury picture for Manchester City, and estimated return dates for those who are sidelined.
Erling Haaland
- Injury: Knock
- Expected return date: February 21 (vs. Newcastle)
Erling Haaland missed the FA Cup match with Salford City after picking up a knock against Fulham, but Guardiola didn’t sound overly concerned about it, so he should be back with Premier League play resuming.
Max Alleyne
- Injury: Ankle
- Expected return date: TBD
Young defender Max Alleyne was deployed during the FA Cup win over Salford City as Pep Guardiola rotated his side, but was forced off after 22 minutes after colliding with an opponent. The extent of his injury is unclear, and more tests will be needed to determine how long the 20-year-old will be absent.
Jeremy Doku
- Injury: Calf
- Expected return date: February 21 (vs. Newcastle)
Doku suffered a calf injury against Galatasaray in late January. City assistant Pep Lijnders thought at the time his recovery time will be “a little bit shorter” than the 18 days he needed with a similar issue earlier in the season, but that time has come and gone so Doku should be on the mend soon.
Josko Gvardiol
- Injury: Tibia fracture
- Expected return date: May/June
Man City suffered a brutal blow in the 1-1 draw with Chelsea, as the opening match of 2026 brought with it terrible news. Defender Gvardiol, who has been a pillar of consistency for City in recent seasons, went down in the second half with a tibia fracture, confirmed by the club the following day.
City confirmed that Gvardiol underwent surgery for the broken leg. While there is very little known at this point about a potential timeline for Gvardiol’s return, it is believed to require a long-term recovery, and it’s possible he will miss the remainder of the 2025/26 season.
Savinho
- Injury: Undisclosed
- Expected return date: February/March
Guardiola said the injury to Savinho “does not look good” after the winger had to exit early in the draw at Sunderland. After the Brighton game, Guardiola said the timeline for the Brazil winger was between one and a half to two months. As the calendar turned to February, there was still no news on the nature of his injury or how long he would remain sidelined.
Mateo Kovacic
- Injury: Heel/ankle
- Expected return date: February/March
Croatia midfielder Kovacic underwent Achilles surgery over the summer but has suffered a serious setback.
After the 3-1 win over Bournemouth on November 2, Guardiola said the former Chelsea player would be “out for a while”.
“He still has a problem with the ankle, a little calcification still there. We’ll wait on him for the last part of the season,” the City boss added. Croatian newspaper Sportske Novosti confirmed the news and said Kovacic’s recovery was likely to take three to four months.
Man City predicted lineup vs. Newcastle
Formation: 4-3-1-2
Donnarumma (GK)
Nunes, Dias, Guehi, Ait-Nouri
Silva, Rodri, O’Reilly
Cherki
Haaland, Semenyo
Man City fixture schedule: Next five games
City have their next run of Premier League games sorted out, but this upcoming list of fixtures isn’t a perfect encapsulation of what their schedule will look like.
There will be some games added to the mix, with the FA Cup fifth round set to be played the weekend of March 7, while the Round of 16 in the Champions League will be added to the mix during the weeks of March 10 and March 17 once the participants and matchups are confirmed.
- Man City vs. Newcastle | Premier League | Saturday, February 21
- Leeds vs. Man City | Premier League | Saturday, February 28
- Man City vs. Nottingham Forest | Premier League | Wednesday, March 4
- West Ham vs. Man City | Premier League | Saturday, March 14
- Man City vs. Crystal Palace | Premier League | Saturday, March 21
