Pep Guardiola gives Nico O'Reilly and Ruben Dias injury updates ahead of Arsenal visit

Manchester City's Nico O'Reilly will be available against Arsenal on Sunday -Credit:Marc Atkins/Getty Images Manchester City received a timely boost ahead of their Premier League game against Arsenal, with Nico O'Reilly declared fit for the fixture. The defender netted both goals in the Carabao Cup final last month as the Blues claimed the first trophy of the season and delivered a statement of intent to the current Premier League leaders. O'Reilly departed the pitch just over an hour into their recent 3-0 win against Chelsea with what appeared to be a hamstring issue and headed straight down the tunnel.

He reappeared at full-time and showed little sign of discomfort as he applauded the travelling City supporters. Tim Howard brutally rips into MLS team after firing 11th head coach in 13 seasons England World Cup rivals appoint ex-Real Madrid boss as head coach less than two months from kickoff Ruben Dias remains unavailable for City as they prepare to host the Premier League leaders -Credit:Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images City will certainly be without center-backs Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol, as per the Manchester Evening News . Croatian defender Gvardiol has been sidelined since sustaining a serious injury at the start of January, while Dias has been absent since the Carabao Cup final last month and will not be fit in time for the Premier League fixture or FA Cup semi-final next week.

Guardiola offered little further detail regarding Dias's injury but provided more reassurance than necessary concerning O'Reilly: "Ruben is not ready and Nico is fine. I prefer to have everybody but during the season players always have injuries. " Nathan Ake partnered Abdukodir Khusanov in the League Cup final against Arsenal at Wembley, before Marc Guehi replaced Ake for the fixtures against Liverpool and Chelsea.

With John Stones having endured a series of injury setbacks throughout the campaign, Guehi and Khusanov appear the most likely pairing to start. Sunday's outcome will be regarded as pivotal in the title race, though a City win would still leave them with considerable ground to cover. Even securing three points against Burnley the following week may prove insufficient to leapfrog Arsenal on goal difference, and Guardiola cautioned that numerous challenging games still lie ahead.