Ilkay Gundogan continued his rich vein of form by scoring twice as Manchester City beat Tottenham 3-0 at the Etihad last weekend.
The 30-year-old, who was named the Premier League‘s Player of the Month for January last Friday, took both of his chances with customary precision and also won a penalty for City’s first goal converted by Rodri after being tripped by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
Gundogan’s latest double took him to 11 Premier League goals for the campaign, all of which have been scored in his previous 12 appearances and given his exceptional performances, he is rapidly emerging as a front-runner for the league’s Player of the Year award.
However, Gundogan’s night wasn’t completely perfect as shortly after rolling in his second goal of the game, he went to ground clutching his groin before walking gingerly off the pitch to be replaced by Ferran Torres for the final 20 minutes.
Given how influential Gundogan has been to City’s rise to the Premier League summit, Pep Guardiola will have been concerned at the sight of him limping away from the action.
Here’s the latest on Gundogan’s injury ahead of City’s next match against Everton at Goodison Park on Wednesday night:
Pep’s comments on Tuesday
Addressing the media on Tuesday afternoon ahead of City’s meeting with the Toffees, Guardiola all but ruled Gundogan out of action.
“Gundo is much better but might be too soon tomorrow,” he said.
Guardiola’s latest update came after he described the in-form playmaker as “intelligent” for coming off against Spurs on Saturday.
“We will see [how he is] tomorrow [on Sunday],” Guardiola said. “He told me it was tight. He is intelligent to say it, but we will see tomorrow.”
On Gundogan’s good form, he added: “He plays close to the striker and has incredible sense, he has this quality.
“I said many times he can play as a false nine and the people laugh at me. Today it was a clear action to win the penalty and then the two goals. He is so good in those terms.
“I am delighted for his performance. He won the Player of the Month award for January and he still keeps playing this way. In February he could win it again.”
Pep’s comments on Thursday
Speaking ahead of City’s clash with Arsenal at the weekend, Guardiola offered positive news on Gundogan’s fitness.
“He is much, much better,” Guardiola said on Thursday.
“It is not a big issue, but to avoid risk today, we have given him a few more days to recover.
“But for Arsenal and Borussia Monchengladbach he should be ready.
“Of course Gundo is exceptional. We spoke about that. If you want to win titles and finals we need the whole squad.”
Gundogan’s injury history
As a result of the congested fixture schedule, more players than usual have suffered muscular aches and strains during the course of a rigorous season.
City will hope that the damage done to Gundogan is minimal although there is cause for additional concern given his chequered injury history.
According to Transfermarkt, Gundogan has had 26 injuries or illnesses over the course of his career, dating back to the 2008-09 season.
Since joining City from Borussia Dortmund in 2016, Gundogan has missed 43 matches for the club in total, the bulk of which were due to an ACL knee injury in his first season, as well as four games earlier this campaign after contracting Covid-19.
Gundogan was also absent for Germany’s World Cup success in 2014 due to a back problem which saw him sidelined for over a year.
Will he play against Everton?
Although Guardiola did not categorically rule Gundogan out it seems unlikely that he will be risked considering City will face Arsenal, Borussia Monchengladbach and West Ham over the next 10 days.
Since Kevin De Bruyne suffered a hamstring injury during the 2-0 win over Aston Villa in January, Gundogan has been deployed in a more advanced midfield role closer to the opposition goal which has aided his purple patch.
Against Spurs, Gundogan’s average position was higher than any other player. Although his expected absence against Everton is undoubtedly a blow, Guardiola has plenty of high-calibre replacements to replace him.
Phil Foden has played centrally, albeit in a false nine role, in recent games, as has Bernardo Silva at different points of the season.
De Bruyne himself may also be in contention to return given Guardiola’s encouraging update on the Belgian’s fitness in his pre-match press conference.
When asked how De Bruyne’s recovery is going, Guardiola responded: “[He’s] Getting better, really getting better. Today he did all training with the group.”
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