Pep Guardiola issues Manchester City fitness update ahead of Fulham trip

Pep Guardiola spoke to the media on Monday afternoon to provide an update on his squad’s fitness ahead of their game against Fulham on Tuesday evening.

The Blues returned to winning ways on Saturday as Phil Foden’s last-gasp winner secured a crucial three points for Manchester City in an enthralling 3-2 victory over Leeds United at the Etihad Stadium.

Rodri and Mateo Kovacic remained absent for City at the weekend, with the former yet to be deemed match fit after recovering from a hamstring injury and the latter expected to remain on the sidelines until the spring of 2026 after recently undergoing surgery on his heel.

City entered the November international break with 11 wins in 14 games in all competitions – a run of form that catapulted the Blues into the title race despite an indifferent start to the campaign that had Guardiola’s men languishing in the bottom half of the table.

Arsenal were held to a 1-1 draw by Chelsea on Sunday and Manchester City’s win against Leeds United means the Blues have returned to second place in the league table, five points adrift of Mikel Arteta’s high-flying Gunners.

There is very little margin for error for Manchester City if they are to fight Arsenal thick and thin in the title race, with Arteta’s men setting the tone early doors and becoming the favourites to lift the trophy in May 2026.

City need to gain momentum as they enter a busy December on domestic and European fronts, having made qualification for the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 somewhat tricky for themselves by losing 2-0 at home to Bayer Leverkusen in their group-phase meeting last week.

Speaking to the press ahead of Tuesday evening’s visit to Craven Cottage, Pep Guardiola provided an update on his side’s fitness as they look to make it back-to-back Premier League victories.

The City boss was quizzed for an update on Rodri, to which he ruled out the possibility of the Spaniard making the Tuesday night affair in London, before insisting that it remains unknown as to whether the midfielder will be available for the weekend clash against Sunderland.

“Not yet,” Guardiola said of Rodri’s availability against Fulham. Pushed for a response or insight on Sunderland, the Catalan said, “I don’t know.”

Nothing less than three points will do for City in west London on Tuesday and Guardiola will be wary of making too many changes to his starting XI from Leeds United – having come under huge scrutiny after introducing 10 new faces to the lineup against Leverkusen last week.

Sunderland and Real Madrid will be next up for Manchester City and Guardiola would want to keep his wider squad fit and firing to keep the Blues in the running for both the Premier League title race and UEFA Champions League knockout stages.