Pep Guardiola doubtful over Manchester City’s fitness ahead of Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool tests | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has issued an update on Mateo Kovacic ahead of Sunday’s Premier League clash against Bournemouth.

Kovacic has recently returned to first-team training after undergoing Achilles surgery in the summer, which delayed the Croatia international’s start to the season as Manchester City lost two of their opening trio of Premier League games against Tottenham and Brighton.

The Blues have missed Ballon d’Or winning midfielder Rodri in recent weeks due to injury after the 29-year-old suffered a hamstring injury against Brentford a month ago. Guardiola has cast doubt over Rodri’s fitness ahead of Bournemouth on Sunday.

After a 1-0 loss to Aston Villa ended their two month unbeaten run last week, City returned to winning ways in midweek as goals from Jeremy Doku, Omar Marmoush and Rayan Cherki helped the Blues come from behind and beat Swansea City in the Carabao Cup to register themselves in the quarter-final.

City have slowly crept back into the conversation for the Premier League title in recent months as Liverpool undergo an rut of form, with Arsenal setting the pace early on in the season as they look to go all the way under Mikel Arteta this time.

Guardiola witnessed major changes to his squad in the recent transfer window upon the appointment of Hugo Viana as director of football, with Manchester City bidding farewell to the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Kyle Walker, Scott Carson, Ederson, Ilkay Gundogan and James McAtee.

The Blues made seven new signings over the course of a topsy turvy window and have received huge plaudits for their shrewd acquisitions of Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki and Gianluigi Donnarumma in the summer.

City can climb to second place in the Premier League table with three points over Bournemouth, who have made a very impressive start to their season and inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Guardiola’s men last season.

Guardiola shuffled his pack in the Carabao Cup against Swansea and is expected to revert to his strongest XI against Bournemouth, who are in second place in the table and have punched well above their weight under Andoni Iraola.

Speaking in a press conference on Friday afternoon, Guardiola was quizzed about Mateo Kovacic’s availability for the Cherries. “We will see,” said the Manchester City manager, casting doubt over the 31-year-old’s fitness.

Kovacic is yet to start this season since he returned to fitness and after not being part of the matchday squad in Wales in midweek, the former Real Madrid and Chelsea man could come on against Bournemouth should he not start.

Nico Gonzalez is expected to start in the number six position for Manchester City on Sunday at the Etihad Stadium, with Erling Haaland set to lead the line after receiving a well-earned rest in midweek.