Man City XI vs Chelsea: Predicted lineup, confirmed team news, injury latest for Premier League

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Evening Standard

·12 de abril de 2026

Man City XI vs Chelsea: Predicted lineup, confirmed team news, injury latest for Premier League

Pep Guardiola without key man for showdown at Stamford Bridge

Manchester City will again be without Ruben Dias for their Premier League showdown with Chelsea.

Vídeos OneFootball

The centre-back missed both the Carabao Cup final win over Arsenal and last weekend’s FA Cup demolition of Liverpool, having previously made seven appearances since returning from a hamstring injury suffered in January.

Dias played only 45 minutes of the Champions League last-16 second-leg defeat by Real Madrid with another hamstring issue and did not feature at Wembley, where Marc Guehi’s ineligibility and the continued absence of John Stones led to Abdukodir Khusanov and Nathan Ake lining up in central defence.

It was Khusanov and the returning Guehi paired together against Liverpool, with City assistant boss Pepijn Lijnders subsequently revealing that Dias had sustained another knock in training on the eve of the game and been sent for a scan.

Dias will not be ready to face Chelsea when City look to close to without six points of Arsenal after their defeat against Bournemouth yesterday, though Stones could take some part in training ahead of the match.

Josko Gvardiol is still some way off returning from a broken leg suffered against the Blues in January.

“Dias is getting better,” Pep Guardiola said on Friday. “He’s not ready for Sunday.

“Today maybe Stones will do partial training, we’ll see. Gvardiol is getting better but still he isn’t close. Mateo Kovacic is fine.”

Gianluigi Donnarumma will be back in goal after deputy James Trafford’s cup exploits against both Arsenal and Liverpool, with Matheus Nunes and Carabao Cup final hero Nico O’Reilly as the likely full-backs - though the latter has also been deployed plenty in midfield by Guardiola this term.

In that instance, Rayan Ait-Nouri would be the man drafted in at left-back.

Rodri and Bernardo Silva should feature again in midfield, with Silva’s exit from City on a free transfer in the summer now confirmed. Nico Gonzalez could come in if a freshen up is needed.

Guardiola will surely be tempted to stick with the same attack that thrashed Liverpool thanks largely to a hat-trick from Erling Haaland, who was well supported by the trio of Antoine Semenyo, Rayan Cherki and Jeremy Doku.

Phil Foden, Tijjani Reijnders, Savinho and Omar Marmoush are all potential alternatives going forwards.

Doubt: Stones

Injured: Gvardiol, Dias

Time and date: 4.30pm BST on Sunday April 12, 2026

Venue: Stamford Bridge, London

How to watch: Sky Sports