Man City suffer huge injury blow ahead of Man Utd and Arsenal clashes

Manchester City forward Omar Marmoush suffered a knee injury during Egypt's World Cup qualifier against Burkina Faso, giving Pep Guardiola a fresh injury headache ahead of clashes against Manchester United and Arsenalin the coming weeks.

The 26-year-old was forced to leave the pitch in the ninth minute of his country's goalless draw in Ouagadougou. Marmoush sustained the injury following a strong challenge in the fourth minute and despite initially continuing after receiving on-field treatment, he was eventually substituted.

An image of Marmoush being helped off the pitch by medics was shared on the Egyptian Football Association's X account, captioned: "Omar Marmoush suffers a bruised knee ligament." An Egyptian FA statement on X added: "Dr. Mohamed Abou El-Ela, the doctor of Egypt’s national football team, confirmed that Omar Marmoush sustained a knee ligament bruise during today’s match against Burkina Faso in the eighth round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. The player will undergo scans upon his arrival in Cairo on Wednesday morning."

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Having scored in Egypt's 2-0 qualifying victory over Ethiopia in Cairo on Friday, Marmoush will now be assessed by City before Sunday's Manchester derby at Etihad Stadium. The January signing from Eintracht Frankfurt has started his club’s last two top-flight matches – defeats to Tottenham and Brighton – after coming on as a substitute in the 4-0 opening-weekend win at Wolves.

After the clash against Manchester United on Sunday, City host Napoli on Thursday, September 18 in the Champions League league phase. Guardiola's side then make the trip to the capital to face Arsenal on Sunday, September 21 and it remains to be seen if Marmoush will be available for selection.

Marmoush's injury is the latest blow to hit City during the international break, with several players pulling out of camps with issues. Abdukodir Khusanov missed Uzbekistan's internationals with a calf injury that was set to sideline him for two weeks, while John Stones trained with England but pulled out on Friday after struggling to overcome a minor muscle injury. Rico Lewis and Nico O'Reilly both withdrew from England Under-21 duty, while Rayan Ait-Nouri didn't go away with Algeria.

Arsenal, meanwhile, will be without Gabriel Jesus, Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and William Saliba for their weekend clash against Nottingham Forest. Ben White and Christian Norgaard could return, however.