FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City v Arsenal - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - September 22, 2024 Manchester City's Rodri reacts after sustaining an injury Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff
LONDON (Reuters) - Premier League leaders Manchester City will have a Rodri-shaped hole in their midfield at Newcastle United on Saturday with their title rivals hoping to see early evidence that the Spaniard's absence will leave the champions vulnerable.
Without giving a definite time frame on Rodri's recovery, champion City confirmed that the 28-year-old midfield anchor sustained ligament damage in his right knee during last Sunday's tumultuous 2-2 draw at home to Arsenal.
If, as seems certain, Rodri faces several months on the sidelines, City manager Pep Guardiola will need to find a solution to a problem that has so far proved beyond even him.
Statistically Guardiola's City are a far more formidable unit with Rodri in the side.
All three of City's Premier League defeats last season came with Rodri missing and tellingly since he joined from Atletico Madrid in 2019, City have lost seven of the 21 Premier League games in which he did not feature -- a loss rate of 33%.
With Rodri, who has played 174 Premier League games for the club and won four successive titles, the loss rate is 10.9%.
Guardiola describes Rodri as irreplaceable but says he has "a duty" to provide a solution.
"Last season, we were three months without Erling (Haaland), five months without Kevin (de Bruyne) and we found solutions," Guardiola said after City's 2-1 League Cup victory against Watford on Tuesday.
Sixth-placed Newcastle will present a stiff challenge to City who have 13 points from their opening five games and their former striker Alan Shearer believes the loss of Rodri could undermine City's bid for a fifth successive title.
"There isn't anyone better in world football than Rodri at what he does, so to have him out for that amount of time is a huge blow to Man City," Shearer told Betfair.
"There's no doubt that a potential season ending injury to Rodri will have an impact on Man City's title hopes."
Any City slip-up at Newcastle could allow either Liverpool, Aston Villa, Arsenal or even Chelsea to take top spot.
Second-placed Liverpool, who along with Villa have 12 points, travel to bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers in Saturday's evening kickoff while Villa go to 17th-placed Ipswich Town on Sunday.
Fourth-placed Arsenal, who have 11 points after their battle with City last weekend, host Leicester City, one of six clubs at the bottom still to record a victory this season.
Arsenal will again be without injured captain Martin Odegaard while Leandro Trossard is unavailable after being sent off at The Etihad Stadium last weekend.
Chelsea, who have 10 points, will look to continue their encouraging run of form as they welcome seventh-placed Brighton and Hove Albion.
Manchester United are at home to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
