Manchester City winger Savinho and defender Manuel Akanji joined the club’s lengthy injury list after Wednesday’s 2-1 League Cup defeat to Tottenham Hotspur and manager Pep Guardiola said he has been left with 13 available players in his squad.

Savinho was taken off on a stretcher in the 62nd minute with an apparent ankle injury, while Akanji did not start the match due to a muscular issue during the warm-up.

City are already without key players Kevin De Bruyne, Rodri, and Kyle Walker while Oscar Bobb, Jeremy Doku and Jack Grealish have also missed recent games.

“We have 13 players (available) so we are in real difficulty. The guys that play, they finish most of them with problems and we’ll see how they recover,” Guardiola told reporters.

“I think we are in trouble, because in nine years we’ve never been in the situation with so many injuries.

“Hopefully he (Savinho) is not in danger but we will see… Akanji yesterday, I didn’t know it, in the last action felt something in the muscular part of his body and today in the warm-up he didn’t feel good.”

City lead the Premier League by one point from Liverpool and next travel to Bournemouth on Saturday.

-Reuters

Manchester United interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy said he would like to remain part of the club’s restructured management team once a permanent replacement for Erik ten Hag is appointed.

The former United striker got his team off to a victorious start in the post-Ten Hag era with an entertaining 5-2 League Cup victory over Leicester City in the League Cup on Wednesday.

“I came in as an assistant to help the club and now in this role I’m helping as long as I’m needed and in the future in any capacity,” Van Nistelrooy told reporters.

“I’m here to help, I’m here to serve, I’m here to give my everything for the club in any capacity, with so many people around me that want the best for the club and that will never change,” the former United and Netherlands striker added.

Two days after Ten Hag was sacked with United 14th in the Premier League, Van Nistelrooy’s first match in charge was memorable with captain Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro scoring two goals apiece, including a brilliant 25-yard strike from Casemiro that had a Van Nistelrooy vigorously pumping his fists in celebration.

“When you see these moments and you can share them with the players on the pitch and the crowd, it releases good feelings, and that’s what you saw I think,” the interim boss said.

He was pleased for the Brazilian midfielder who was the subject of scathing criticism after a 3-0 home loss to Liverpool this season that saw him substituted at halftime.

“I was delighted for Casemiro, the way he’s been training and helping the team and the club, he’s such an example, also to see the crowd’s reaction, they also know what he’s about,” Van Nistelrooy said

“Of course, going through difficult moments, the Liverpool game, a lot of criticism, it’s so hard, it’s not fair, he didn’t deserve that, if you see him train and prepare for games, he’s an example for us, and that was part of my celebration also.”

While the Old Trafford crowd sang Van Nistelrooy’s name after the final whistle, the Dutchman said it had been a difficult time since compatriot Ten Hag’s sacking.

“The days leading up to this were with mixed feelings, sad to see Erik go, he was the one who got me here, and in our first conversation the passion he showed for the club, that’s where we got connected, and it was sad to see him leave,” he said.

Although United are expected to appoint Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Amorim as their new manager, media reports said the Portuguese will remain with his club until after the next international break.

That means Van Nistelrooy will be in charge on Sunday when United resume their Premier League campaign against Chelsea at Old Trafford.

United will travel to Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup quarter-finals.

-Reuters

Erik ten Hag had the sympathy of managers around the Premier League a day after the Dutchman was sacked by struggling Manchester United, with most saying they could face the same fate any day in the results-driven business.

United have appointed their assistant manager and former striker Ruud van Nistelrooy to take over on an interim basis with the club languishing 14th in the Premier League standings after nine games and 21st in the Europa League table.

“I feel very sorry for him, it’s one of the best jobs in football,” Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said. “There’s only us, it’s not teachers or architects or something like that.

“I wish him all the best and he will come back stronger. If the results aren’t good enough, you get sacked. No one is different, myself included.”

Liverpool boss Arne Slot said as a fellow Dutchman, Ten Hag’s dismissal hit harder but believes the unemployed coach will land on his feet.

“Always your first thoughts are with the person,” Slot said on Tuesday. “We are all in this job so we know that it can happen, but if it happens – especially because I know him a little bit and I know how much work he puts into it – to get this news for him is a pity.

“We also know, especially us from Holland how well he did at Ajax (Amsterdam) and he won two trophies over here so we will see him in the near future again at a big club,” Slot added.

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou said he was not shocked by the news.

“I guess disappointed as it was inevitable with the scrutiny he’d had. It’s the nature of football these days,” Postecoglou said.

The Spurs boss said the intense scrutiny has made it increasingly difficult to do the job in “any sort of processed way.

“It seems like if you look at Erik, (he was) there for two-and-a-bit years and in those two years (he won) trophies – one in each year. If he was here with that record, would he have lost his job? I don’t know. Everyone tells me all I have to do is win a trophy.

“As a manager, you’ve got to hit a sweet spot of success, playing football everyone likes and getting every signing right.”

United host Leicester City in a League Cup fourth-round tie on Wednesday at Old Trafford.

-Reuters