Guardiola Remains Doubtful about Availability of David Silva for Manchester Derby
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has confirmed that playmaker David Silva is still touch and go for the upcoming Manchester derby, which is extremely crucial for the club in the overall context of the top four race.
City take on United in the midweek game on Thursday night. This game could potentially decide the conclusion of the top four, as win for City could move them four points ahead of United – a significant advantage with only four games left after this match. Conversely, a loss for City will see them drop out of the top four.
After having failed to reach the FA Cup final, this game is extremely important for Guardiola. Failing to reach even the top four will classify the season as one of the worst in the club’s recent history. Much was expected when the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager was brought to the club, but they have struggled from the word go. In the defence of the Spaniard, he has been without key players like David Silva for much of the campaign.
The former Valencia midfielder was once again taken off in the game against Arsenal after just 23 minutes. City went on to lose the FA Cup semi-final 2-1 in extra time.
Guardiola was also not optimistic about the chances of Sergio Aguero being fit for this game.“Aguero was dead from the kick.I didn’t speak to the doctors. We will see tomorrow how they are. Silva told me he couldn’t keep playing. It would have been better to have him on the pitch, but we will never know that.He [Jesus Navas] had one training session.We are going to see in the nextdays how to prepare for United,” said Guardiola in the pre-match press conference. City have managed just two wins in the last five league matches.