Manchester City could be without Kyle Walker for the upcoming Premier League title showdown with Arsenal after he limped out of England’s friendly vs Brazil.
Joe Bray
Vinicius Jr emphasised how big a blow Kyle Walker’s injury could be for Manchester City by calling him the best defender he has faced in his career.
“Every time a player leaves the pitch injured it’s very sad, not only for the player but for all of us who are there on the pitch,” the Real Madrid winger said on Saturday. “We want to play against the best, Walker, I always say, he’s the best defender I’ve ever faced and it’s always a very good duel. He respects me a lot and I respect him a lot. Each one defends their side with the greatest will in the world.”
Walker himself says he hopes his ‘frustrating’ injury is not too bad, and City will hope he will not be missing for the Premier League showdown with Arsenal in six days. If he doesn’t recover however, as much a blow it will be, Guardiola already has a ready-made plan to replace Walker.
That’s because Walker found himself out of the City ‘strongest XI’ last season in the Champions League knockout stages. He started the last-16 first leg away at RB Leipzig but was benched as City scored 10 across the second leg and then the first leg of the quarter-final against Bayern Munich. He came on in the final two minutes of the latter with the tie long since won, and didn’t get much longer in the final against Inter Milan.
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He started both legs of the semi-final against Real Madrid, successfully nullifying Vinicius as City produced a second-leg masterclass, but the situation in the other knockout games was enough to see him consider a permanent exit in the summer – before u-turning and signing a new contract.
Since then, Walker has been virtually ever-present for City but his latest injury concern could see Guardiola revert back to last season’s Champions League plan in order to try and beat Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday. A year ago, it was Manu Akanji who was playing so well that Walker had to watch from the bench. Capable of playing across the back line, Akanji offers Guardiola something different when he plays at full-back, especially when John Stones is in the XI.
With Stones capable of inverting into midfield, Akanji can seamlessly switch into a back three as well as hold his own as a full-back. He has also shown his qualities doing the Stones-role pushing into midfield. In the Champions League final, it was Akanji pushing into space, freeing Bernardo with Rodri scoring from the deflected cutback.
First published by: Manchester Evening News
