Pep Guardiola has said Manchester City are in “trouble” and only have “13 outfield players” after his side suffered more injuries in Wednesday night's EFL Cup defeat by Tottenham Hotspur.
Manuel Akanji and Savinho were the latest names to be added to City's injury list, as the former hurt his calf in the warm-up and the winger was taken off on a stretcher in the second half of the 2-1 loss.
“He had a knock in the 18-yard box but we will see tomorrow what happened,” Guardiola said on Savinho.
“We have to see if it was just a knock or something else. It was on the bone, so hopefully nothing dangerous, but we will have to see tomorrow.”
In City's defence, as well as Akanji, Josko Gvardiol required attention immediately after the match while Guardiola says Ruben Dias is also “struggling” after he was withdrawn at half-time.
The champions are next in action at AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday.
“It’s tough,” Guardiola added. "Akanji felt something in the muscular part of his body - he wanted to take a risk, but we said, 'No, no risk.'
“Ruben is struggling sometimes as well. It’s been getting more difficult game by game – maybe we will be all back together at some point.
“I don’t know, I didn’t speak [to Gvardiol]. Every time I went in [the dressing-room], [someone] was on the table [having] a massage: it was too busy, too crowded! So, I don’t know.
“We are in real difficulty because the guys who finish had some problems but we will see how they recover. I think when we are in trouble, because in nine years I never had this situation with many injuries for many reasons, in this situation, the players step forward more than ever in all they try to do.
“We have a short time for recovery this week. We have 13 outfield players. Tomorrow we have two goalkeepers and Erling Haaland in the training session. The rest, we don't have anything else...”
Who else is out for City?
Man City are already without Kyle Walker, Rodri, Oscar Bobb, Jeremy Doku, Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Grealish, with some of those not returning for at least a few weeks.
“Our captain [Walker] is injured,” Guardiola added. “I don’t think he or Kevin will be back until after the international break. Jack Grealish as well.”
That means the trio will also miss the trip to Brighton & Hove Albion next weekend before potentially making their comeback after the international break on 23 November against Spurs.
In total, City could have up to nine first-team players unavailable to travel to Bournemouth.
Man City's next five PL fixtures
Who can Guardiola call upon?
Providing Dias and Gvardiol are not ruled out for Bournemouth, these are the 13 first-team outfield players that Guardiola says he has to choose from:
Defenders: Ake, Dias, Gvardiol, Lewis, Stones, Wilson-Esbrand; Midfielders: Foden, Gundogan, Kovacic, McAtee, Nunes, B.Silva; Forwards: Haaland.
Who might get a call-up from the Academy?
The injuries present an opportunity for some talented City youngsters to get some first-team experience on Saturday.
Jahmai Simpson-Pusey (18 years old), who came on for his senior debut at Spurs, Nico O'Reilly (19), James McAtee (22) and Jacob Wright (19) could all feature. O'Reilly was among the players praised by Guardiola after his performance at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
“The Nico we saw tonight was the Nico we met last season – what a game he played,” Guardiola said. “This competition is very good to give players this chance. Jahmai was exceptional at centre-half in the minutes he played.
“James McAtee – what a game he had – and Nico and Jacob played really well. I’m really pleased with what I’ve seen – really pleased. Ninety minutes, so composed against a team that is so, so dangerous.”
Who else got injured in the EFL Cup?
Man City weren't the only team to suffer in midweek. Crystal Palace's Eberechi Eze and Adam Wharton both went off early in their win at Aston Villa while Spurs' Micky van de Ven also had to be withdrawn with a suspected hamstring problem.
