With Sunday’s Capital One Cup final at Wembley between Liverpool and Manchester City taking centre stage this weekend, both sides have received positive news on the injury front ahead of the game.
Vincent Kompany has had his fair amount of injury worries this season, but City manager Manuel Pellegrini has said that he expects the Belgian international to be fit for Sunday’s game, along with fellow defender Bacary Sagna and attacker Raheem Sterling.
“Sagna, Kompany and Sterling are recovering separately after the game but I hope the three of them will be fit,” Pellegrini was quoted as saying by Manchester City’s official website.
Although the return of the trio to the starting XI is not a guarantee, Pellegrini will have more options to choose from when selecting his line-up and bench against Liverpool.
“Mangala, Navas and Bony are training normally and are available for selection,” added Pellegrini.
Kompany return is a huge boost for City
The Manchester City captain has been hugely influential for the Citizens ever since he took the armband from Argentine star Carlos Tevez. The 29-year-old, who is also the captain of the Belgian national side, has had a calming effect on the City defence.
However, Pellegrini’s men have sorely missed Komapny’s presence on the pitch, with the team conceding a number of goals that could have been avoided. Due to the inability of the Kompany-less defence to cope with quality attacks, Manchester City have fallen nine points behind in the title race, and have just about kept themselves in the top four.
With Kompany expected to play on Sunday, the Manchester City back four and goalkeeper will have a leader to look up to. This organisational aspect of the game that Kompany brings to the table is what has saved City in many troublesome situations, and might just help them out on Sunday.
Lovern returns to fitness for Liverpool
The Croatian centre-back has been out with illness of late, but was said to be fit for the Europa League clash against FC Augsburg. In spite of that though, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp did not risk the 26-year-old, choosing to play holding midfielder Lucas Leiva in defence. However, Lovren is now fit enough to take part in the League Cup final, according to the BBC.
This should be great news for the Liverpool fans, as Lovren has shown improvement after Klopp’s arrival. The former Southampton man was also on the scoresheet in the Reds’ 4-1 mauling of City at the Etihad, and will be looking to repeat his heroics on Sunday.
