Manchester City handed double fitness boost for New Year’s Day trip to Sunderland | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has issued a fitness update on his squad ahead of a trip to the north-east to face Sunderland on New Year’s Day.

The Blues can reduce the gap to Premier League leaders Arsenal to two points with a win over the Black Cats after the Gunners claimed a 4-0 victory over third-placed Aston Villa in their final fixture of 2025 on Tuesday evening.

City have won eight consecutive wins ahead of Thursday’s visit to the Stadium of Light, where the Blues can cut the gap between themselves and Arsenal back to two points, as question marks remain over the availability of key stars who have been out of contention recently.

Rodri has barely kicked a ball for Manchester City since he sustained a hamstring injury in early October, with Guardiola and his coaching staff highly conscious of rushing the Spaniard back to fitness in the backdrop of several fitness setbacks since he returned from an ACL injury in May.

Jeremy Doku also sustained an injury in the days leading to Manchester City’s 3-0 win away at Crystal Palace earlier this month, with Guardiola yet to recall the high-flying Belgium international back to the pitch as Omar Marmoush remains on international duty with Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations.

However, in a major boost to Guardiola, the Catalan has revealed that both Rodri and Doku could both their respective returns against Sunderland.

In a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Guardiola said: “Rodri has come back, maybe he can play a few minutes (vs Sunderland) – looking forward to it desperately!”

Rodri has trained as usual with the Manchester City first-team for the last month but Guardiola has stuck with Nico Gonzalez in holding midfield, with the Ballon d’Or winning star expected to be gradually phased back in action in 2026.

Guardiola also added that the trip to the north-east could see Doku mark his return after missing City’s last four wins, though it remains unlikely that the 23-year-old forward slots straight back into the starting XI.

However, John Stones and Oscar Bobb remain out of contention for the Blues, with the former recovering from an unspecified leg injury since early December and the latter dealing with a hamstring issue that forced him to come off early on in Manchester City’s 2-0 Carabao Cup quarter-final win over Brentford a few weeks ago.

“And (Jeremy) Doku maybe. John (Stones) and Oscar (Bobb), no,” Guardiola said as Manchester City close in on the signing of Antoine Semenyo from Bournemouth for £65 million after extensive negotiations with the south coast club and the Ghanian’s camp this week.

Guardiola will be relishing the chance to hand some minutes to Rodri and Doku – likely off the bench – against Sunderland this weekend as Manchester City look to keep up the pressure on Arsenal in a title race with little margin for error.