Man City defender Nathan Ake ruled out of ruled out of Arsenal clash through injury

Manchester City defender Nathan Ake has been ruled out of Manchester City's clash against Arsenal in a major boost for Mikel Arteta.

The Gunners travel to the Etihad on Wednesday evening on what will undoubtedly decide who goes on to lift the title.

It looks to be a daunting task for the north London side who haven't won at the Etihad since 2015, when Santi Cazorla and Olivier Giroud scored in a 2-0 victory.

However, in a boost for Arteta, first-choice left-back Ake will not be fit to play in Wednesday's mouth-watering contest, after picking up a hamstring injury during City's 1-1 draw with Bayern Munich.

The Netherlands international went down clutching the back of his thigh in their Champions League quarter-final, and subsequently missed Saturday's 3-0 win FA Cup win over Sheffield United.

Ake ruled out of Arsenal clash

Before the match against Sheffield, Guardiola revealed that Ake would have a scan to assess the damage, but confirmed he would not be fit to face Arsenal.

While the City boss also cast doubt over the 28-year-old's availability to face Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final.

“Hopefully he can come back soon but for tomorrow he is out," said Guardiola.

"I don’t know about Madrid. Yeah [it’s a blow] but we will find the right player to do it. I don’t have doubts about that, we’ll play with 11.”

Ake has enjoyed an excellent campaign in Manchester, missing just one Premier League match since the Qatar World Cup came to an end.

The natural centre-back has excelled at playing Guardiola's unique left-back position this term, moving into midfield when City have the ball.

While his presence will be sorely missed against Arsenal, Aymeric Laporte has been tipped to replace him.

Although Rico Lewis and Bernardo Silva have also featured at left-back this season.

Whoever is asked to play the role is likely to have their work cut out against Bukayo Saka, who has been on fire for the Gunners.

As for Arteta, he has plenty of injury concerns himself, with Granit Xhaka a doubt for the game. While William Saliba has been ruled out with a back injury.

“At the moment we don’t have him and we are preparing for this game without him,” the Arsenal manager said of Saliba.

“The next game is probably going to come too soon as well. We have to go week by week at the moment.”

Topics: Nathan Ake, Manchester City, Arsenal, Premier League, Football, Mikel Arteta, Pep Guardiola

Joe Adams

Joe is a Journalist for SPORTbible with a primary focus on football. He has previously covered a number of other sports including boxing, rugby and F1. Wishes he was born left-footed.

@joeadamsjourno