Guardiola unsure whether key Man City man can start against ‘unbelievable’ Arsenal | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has expressed doubt over whether Rodri will be able to start when his side take on an “unbelievable” Arsenal team.

The Ballon d’Or winner is still in the process of returning to full fitness following his eight-month absence last season. The midfielder has already started two games in the past week – against both Manchester United and Napoli.

“It’s a good question, I don’t know yet,” Guardiola answered when asked about Rodri’s ability to start a third game this week. “But he was so smart, I know it’s always not over, 1-0 is always tricky. But he doesn’t feel good, always we try to talk, to sustain and not feel that uncomfortable and it’s better.”

The Spaniard came off in the second half of City’s Champions League victory over Napoli. It is almost a year to the day since the midfielder suffered an ACL injury against Arsenal.

“We see day by day, but important to play two games,” he said. “Yesterday, for example, the training session, he didn’t feel comfortable, he didn’t train good. But he said ‘No, no, I will be fine tomorrow’ and played extraordinarily like Rodri does.

“And with him on the pitch we feel more comfortable. But of course, he comes from a tough, tough injury, you have to be alert and we will decide on Sunday how he feels.”

City only have a short window for recovery before their trip to the Emirates. The Catalan joked: “We are going to make hiking in the mountains. We are going to do that these two days.

“I don’t know, tomorrow recovery, the players like we have just two, we have a lot of injuries there, but rest and have energy on Sunday.”

The Blues’ last visit to Arsenal ended in a humiliating 5-1 defeat. Guardiola explained: “The last 15-20 minutes was a disaster. We forgot to do what we had to do and everyone did it there, and after that, Arsenal, it was easy for them.

“Hopefully this season we can make a little bit more of a challenge.

“Mikel is an extraordinary manager and how they improved the squad in the last 4-5 transfer windows.

“So it’s an unbelievable squad, an unbelievable team, it’s one of the toughest opponents you can find right now in Europe.

“We see what we have to do and the players that are fit, and we try to compete where we want to compete and be a better team than we were last season, especially in the last 20-25 minutes.”