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Kevin De Bruyne remains a doubt, as Manchester City face a trip to St James' Park to face Newcastle United in Saturday's early kick-off
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Manchester City will get the chance to extend their lead at the top of the young Premier League table on Saturday when they visit Newcastle United in the day's early kick-off. Pep Guardiola's side left it late in their last Premier League game, with John Stones scoring deep into stoppage time to rescue a point against title rivals Arsenal in an action-packed clash. This came despite City seeing their influential midfielder Rodri limp off with what proved to be a serious knee injury, while skipper Kevin De Bruyne has been absent since limping off against Inter Milan earlier this month. De Bruyne was withdrawn at half-time of City's first Champions League match of the season on September 18, with Guardiola confirming after the game that the Belgian was suffering with a thigh injury. The 33-year-old was not present in the matchday squad to face Arsenal and he was not part of the team that beat Watford in the Carabao Cup third round on Tuesday evening. De Bruyne absence came after Guardiola gave an update to reporters prior to the win over the Hornets. “I don’t think it will be long, ” the City boss said when quizzed about the Belgian. “But he was not able to [face Arsenal], I will not say Watford, I don’t know for Newcastle. But I think it will not be long. ” The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week. Guardiola will face the media again on Friday afternoon to give his final pre-match thoughts about the trip to the north east and we will then have a better idea of whether or not the City skipper will be involved this weekend. The club confirmed the news that all City fans had been dreading earlier this week, when they gave an update on Rodri's injury, with the Spaniard set to miss an extended period of time, meaning Mateo Kovacic is likely to fill that particular void. VIDEO Why Arsenal Were BETTER Than They Looked Against Atalanta Next up after the Newcastle trip will be a midweek jaunt to Slovakia to face Slovan Bratisalava, before City host Fulham next weekend in the final fixture before the international break. De Bruyne battled a number of injuries last season, restricting him to just 18 Premier League appearances, his lowest total since joining the club in 2015. Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1 *Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription Join now for unlimited access Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1 For more than a decade Joe Mewis has worked in football journalism as a reporter and editor, with stints at Mirror Football and Leeds Live among others. He is the author of four football history books that include times on Leeds United and the England national team. Chelsea have opened talks over €80m A-list goalkeeper: report Arsenal to bring back classic kit design for next season: report Is Arsenal star David Raya injured this weekend? Premier League injury update Four Four Two is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site. ©
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