Manchester City’s plans for their match against Arsenal are in ruins due to Pep Guardiola’s terrible international break, as several of their star players are injured and exhausted.

Manchester City’s nightmare of an international break has left them in disarray ahead of their upcoming match against Arsenal. With four players returning from international duty with injuries and three others not well enough to play for their countries, Pep Guardiola has had to deal with a number of injury concerns.

Because of the rigorous schedule that awaited them in several competitions when they returned, Guardiola had advised his players to exercise caution during the break. Erling Haaland was even given a playful warning by him about getting hurt, but luckily, Haaland’s injury scare during practice was minor, allowing him to start in two games.

But things got worse when rumors started circulating that another player—Kyle Walker, perhaps—had sustained an injury. Even though this injury is not as serious as first thought, it will still need to be evaluated when the player returns to the training field. Guardiola is putting his players’ health first, especially with big games against Real Madrid and Arsenal coming up.

Guardiola’s backup options for right-back in the event that Walker is unavailable are Manu Akanji or John Stones; however, both options have been complicated by Akanji’s absence from training for Switzerland and Stones’ adductor injury sustained during England’s friendlies.

It is far from ideal for Guardiola to have Rico Lewis, Josko Gvardiol, Ruben Dias, and Nathan Ake in the defensive lineup against Arsenal. To make matters worse for City, Matheus Nunes reportedly sustained a foot injury while playing for Portugal internationally.

Positively, several important players have remained at City to continue their recuperations, including Ederson, Kevin De Bruyne, and Jack Grealish. As a result, they may be available for the Arsenal match. Guardiola is optimistic about the news despite a difficult time marked by injuries and uncertainty.