Man City duo back in training but two key players still missing ahead of Everton clash

Two Manchester City players, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Omar Marmoush, have returned to training ahead of Saturday’s Premier League home match against Everton.

Ait-Nouri last featured in Manchester City’s defeat to Brighton in August and has since missed eight games for the club due to an ankle injury.

Similarly, Marmoush had to miss Manchester City’s last six games after sustaining a knee injury.

Fortunately for Manchester City, the pair returned to full training on Thursday and could, therefore, be in contention to feature against Everton.

Jeremy Doku and Nico O’Reilly have done well in their absences, but Ait-Nouri and Marmoush’s returns would only help bolster Manchester City’s firepower up front.

It is quite different on the defensive end of the pitch, however.

Abdukodir Khusanov, who has already missed four games since being taken off at half-time against Arsenal in September, is unlikely to be available for the weekend.

While the versatile defender was initially expected to return after the October international break, he has yet to return to training, according to The Daily Mail.

This is also the case for key midfielder Rodri.

The 2024 Ballon d’Or winner played just 22 minutes in the final match before the international break against Brentford and had to leave the pitch due to a hamstring problem.

He has reportedly been missing from Manchester City’s training session on Thursday.

Considering that Pep Guardiola has been trying to reduce his workload after last season’s long-term ACL injury absence, it is safe to assume that the midfielder would not be in the squad against Everton as well.

Nico Gonzales, who joined Manchester City from Porto earlier this year, is expected to continue to be the one filling the void left by Rodri’s absence.