Man City have been handed a major injury blow hours before the Carabao Cup final against Arsenal
14:23, 22 Mar 2026Updated 14:47, 22 Mar 2026
Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta meet again on Sunday(Image: 2024 Getty Images)
Manchester City defender Ruben Dias has been ruled out for the Carabao Cup final against Arsenal due to injury. The Gunners are taking on City at Wembley Stadium on Sunday afternoon with the first major trophy of the season up for grabs.
However, hours before kick-off, news emerged that City will be without Dias for the clash against Arsenal due to a hamstring injury.
Dias played just 45 minutes for City in their defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League in midweek and has now been ruled out of the Carabao Cup final against Arsenal this afternoon.
The City defender has spent large portions of this season on the sidelines due to injury, with a hamstring issue ruling him out of eight matches since the turn of the year.
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Dias has made 32 appearances for City this season, but none in the Carabao Cup, and that will continue on Sunday with the centre-back’s absence from the matchday squad for the clash against Arsenal.
The absence of Dias means that City will have another defender on the sidelines with injury, with Josko Gvardiol a long-term absentee with a leg injury.
City will still have Nathan Ake, John Stones, Marc Guehi and Abdukodir Khusanov as their central defensive options for the final against Arsenal. Khusanov was in the starting line-up for the defeat to Madrid in midweek, while Guehi replaced Dias at the half-time interval at the Etihad Stadium.
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Arsenal will also have their own injury concerns to deal with for the clash against City.
Jurrien Timber (ankle), Martin Odegaard (knee) and Mikel Merino (foot) were all absent for the Gunners in the win over Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
Merino is a long-term absentee for Arsenal with a foot injury, but Arteta hinted that Timber and Odegaard have a chance of returning to the matchday squad with their respective concerns.
“We have another session tomorrow, so let’s see if they can make it,” Arteta said earlier this week.
When asked if Arsenal had any other injury concerns ahead of the final against Man City, Arteta added: “No, not for now.
“We have another training session tomorrow, so the ones that are in contention, hopefully, they can give us good news.”
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