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Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal are set to battle it out until the bitter end to decide this year’s Premier League champions.

The onus is on Liverpool and Arsenal to break Manchester City’s stranglehold on the division, with the Reds being the only club besides Man City to win the Premier League since the 2018/19 season.

The international break came at an inopportune time for fans of the teams with the title race so finely balanced; just one-point separates the three contenders.

However, it seems that Manchester City always have some bad luck with injuries in and around international breaks – with five players withdrawing from their respective national teams in November only to be ready for action at the resumption of club action.

This March, 16 of Guardiola’s men were called to their nations – with Kevin De Bruyne and Ederson already withdrawing citing injury/rest period.

City skipper Kyle Walker picked up a hamstring concern during England’s recent 1-0 loss to Brazil and subsequently withdrew from Southgate’s squad.

It has since emerged that Walker will likely be available for the high-profile clash with Arsenal at the Etihad this coming weekend.

Latest Manchester City star to withdraw from national team duty

Swiss boss Murat Yakin revealed in a press-conference yesterday that Man City defender Manuel Akanji picked up a knock ahead of Switzerland’s friendly with Ireland this evening.

This is according to Sean O’Connor for the Irish Independent, with the City man set to play no part in the friendly fixture tonight having started the last 16 games straight for Switzerland.

While Pep Guardiola has plenty of depth to call upon, Akanji has started plenty of games for the reigning champions this season – making 34 appearances across all competitions so far.

Kevin De Bruyne was exempted from international duty with Belgium manager Domencio Tedesco confirming that the star man was set to ‘recover’ after playing the last few games with a hamstring issue.


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