Manuel Pellegrini refused to cite the absence of David Silva and Vincent Kompany
Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini refused to cite the absence of David Silva and Vincent Kompany has the reason for the defeat against West Ham United in the previous league encounter.
City suffered this shock defeat in front of their home supporters. It was the first time that the club had conceded a league goal this season. It was also their first defeat and it allowed the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea to close the gap. Just ahead of the game, the manager lost Silva to injury. His replacement, Kevin De Bruyne, scored on his debut and was hugely influential throughout the game.
The introduction of the Belgian international, though, brought out an undesired statistic for City. It was the first £ 300 million team that had suffered a defeat in a league match. De Bruyne recently came to the Etihad stadium in a £ 55 million deal. Even after the arrival of big names like Raheem Sterling andDe Bruyne, players like Silva will be a very important component in a potential title challenge. Ever since his arrival from Valencia in 2010, the Spaniard has been a key figure in all of the successes achieved by the club.
The club next take on Spurs at White Hart Lane and Pellegrini says that he is hopeful of the duo returning. "We'll see during the week the way they recover from now until Saturday. I hope we will recover a couple of them for the next game. I always enjoy to see good players. I think it is also important for our team because we had eight players injured for this game that we cannot use: Silva, Nasri, Delph, Zabaleta, Kompany, Mangala, Bony and Kelechi,” said the Manchester City manager ahead of the League Cup meeting with Sunderland at home.