Manchester City and their manager Pep Guardiola will know only too well that sympathy from elsewhere will be non-existent when he outlines the extent of their current injury problems.

Guardiola’s message that ‘I think we are in trouble’ will be brushed aside by those who look enviously at the size and quality of the squad he has.

There is, however, no doubt that his resources are being stretched following injuries to Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias and Savinho before and during Wednesday’s Carabao Cup defeat at Tottenham.

City are already without Rodri – arguably their most important player – for the season, as well as Kevin de Bruyne.

The reality is that if there is any manager or team that can deal with such handicaps, it is Manchester City.

It adds an extra layer of intrigue for Saturday’s trip to Bournemouth, who showed just how dangerous they can be by beating Arsenal 2-0 recently.

Guardiola still has plenty of weapons in his arsenal and City are still top of the Premier League, but it could just be that their current injury struggles play even more into the narrative that there could be a greater sense of flux around the title race this season than many. expected.