England and Manchester City midfielder Phil Foden has been confirmed to miss the start of Manchester City’s Premier League title defence with the foot injury he picked up during Euro 2020. The 21-year-old is likely to miss Man City’s first three league games.
Phil Foden to Miss Man City’s First Three Games due to Injury
Manchester City will be playing against Tottenham, Norwich City before playing Arsenal in their first three games. Phil Foden is also a doubt for England’s 2022 World Cup qualifier, which comes up in September. Reacting to this, Foden said: “It has been really difficult for me personally – I want to get back on the pitch as soon as possible.”
He also said: “Picking up a foot injury just before the final, it was a strange one. I was just training, and it happened. I just twisted my foot. It was unfortunate.” Foden expects to be back in “around four weeks”, which could mean his first Premier League match of the season could be on Saturday, 11 September against Leicester City.
Pep Guardiola has confirmed that City will also start the season without their playmaker Kevin de Bruyne due to an ankle injury he sustained during Belgium’s Euro 2020 quarter-final loss to Italy. Their Community Shield loss could be traced to the absence of these two big City players.
Nigerian Kelechi Iheanaho scored the only goal as Leicester City beat City to win the Community Shield. Pep Guardiola said: “Us being Premier League champions, it is going to be even harder to do that this year.” “Every team is going to be trying hard to beat us. We know we have to be at our best every game. That is the standard we set. We want to repeat last season and try to win the league.”
