Kevin De Bruyne absence explained as Man City suffer major blow for Fulham clash
Pep Guardiola leaves Belgian out of squad for Craven Cottage trip
evin De Bruyne was left out of Manchester City’s matchday squad to face Fulham on Sunday afternoon due to a fitness issue.
The Belgian ace lit up the Emirates on Wednesday night, registering two goals and an assist as he inspired City to a one-sided 4-1 win over Premier League leaders Arsenal.
The match was billed as the likely title-decider, and De Bruyne’s marvellous performance brought him to seven goals and 16 assists for the League season so far.
But he has not travelled down to Craven Cottage from Manchester for this afternoon’s match, due to a niggle he picked up towards the end of the Arsenal victory.
De Bruyne was not marked down as injured on the official match documentation, but he was deemed ‘not fully fit’ and so has been left out as a precaution.
Manchester City selected Julian Alvarez to partner Ilkay Gundogan in De Bruyne’s absence.