Serious Rodri injury confirmed as shocking Man City stat Newcastle can increase emerges
Wins over Manchester City have been few and far between for Newcastle United in recent years but they have been given a timely boost heading into the game.
The Carabao Cup postponement with AFC Wimbledon hands the Magpies extra time to prepare for their clash with Pep Guardiola's side, who also have a midweek fixture to contend with - home tie with Watford. The City boss will no doubt rotate his squad for the fixture, but one player who will miss the game is influential midfielder Rodri.
The Spain international went down clutching his knee in City's dramatic 2-2 draw with Arsenal. The 28-year-old - who many believe is the best in the world in his position - was forced off in the first-half, just one minute before Riccardo Calafiori's stunning strike levelled for Arsenal.
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Guardiola replaced Rodri with Mateo Kovacic after the Spaniard got his knee in a tangle with Thomas Partey at a corner. City have now confirmed the midfielder will miss the remainder of the season after suffering an ACL injury.
"Rodri is strong. He leaves the pitch in this action because he felt something, otherwise Rodri stays there," said Guardiola post-match when asked about the injury to his star midfielder
"He's the best holding midfielder in the world, he is a potential Ballon d'Or winner, I would love for him to win. But it happened in the first minutes. These games with Arsenal are like that and we have to handle it. We did it. We did really good things."
Eddie Howe is a huge fan of the City midfielder. After all, since arriving at City in 2019, Guardiola's side have won 74 per cent and lost 11 per cent of games when he plays.
Compare that to 64 per cent of games won and 24 per cent lost when Rodri has been absent, that's a significant impact. Guardiola felt the result against Arsenal may have been different had Rodri not hobbled off injured and Newcastle will be hoping they're able to frustrate City in a similar fashion.