Premier League: Man City's Rodri ruled out of Everton clash
17 Oct 2025

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has confirmed that star midfielder Rodri will miss Saturday's Premier League clash against Everton at the Etihad Stadium.

The 29-year-old has been struggling with fitness issues after a long absence due to an ACL injury last season.

He has only played the full 90 minutes in two of his seven appearances across all competitions this term.

Rodri tweaked his hamstring against Brentford
Performance review

Rodri played for just over an hour in City's 2-2 Champions League draw with Monaco earlier this month.

He was then given another start in a 1-0 Premier League win at Brentford before the international break.

However, he had to be substituted in the 22nd minute after tweaking his hamstring and subsequently withdrew from Spain's squad for two World Cup qualifiers this month.

Nico Gonzalez to start in Rodri's absence
Injury update

Guardiola confirmed that Saturday's game will come too soon for Rodri, who had been hopeful about his recovery.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday, he said: "No news. He is not ready for tomorrow. I don't know when he will be back."

In Rodri's absence, Nico Gonzalez is likely to play in a deep-lying midfield role with Mateo Kovacic now available for his first Premier League appearance of the season.

Kovacic set for debut after recovering from Achilles surgery
Player comeback

Kovacic, who underwent Achilles surgery in summer, is yet to play a minute for Man City this term. He also missed their Club World Cup campaign but returned to international duty with Croatia last weekend.

He played for 69 minutes in a 3-0 win over Gibraltar in World Cup qualifying.

Guardiola said on Kovacic: "He needs to give us quality moments, quality time and quality minutes."

Marmoush, Ait-Nouri closing in on return
Player updates

Meanwhile, City have been boosted by the imminent return of Omar Marmoush and Rayan Ait-Nouri to first-team action.

Marmoush has missed seven matches since suffering a knee injury on international duty with Egypt in September. However, he was seen without crutches celebrating Egypt's World Cup qualification earlier this week.

Ait-Nouri has also missed seven games with an apparent ankle issue but returned to first-team training earlier this week.

Man City are 5th in the Premier League standings
Fact

After 7 matches, Man City are placed 5th in the Premier League standings. They have picked 4 wins, 1 draw and 2 defeats. However, City are unbeaten in 4 league games and will be the favorites against Everton.