Liverpool vs Man City: Horror injury for City star as absentee list grows

Matheus Nunes had to be substituted with a suspected broken finger after a nasty fall during Manchester City's win over FC Copenhagen, just four days before the Premier League clash with Liverpool.

City saw off their Champions League last 16 opponents comfortably on Wednesday night, winning 3-1 at the Etihad to take the tie 6-2 on aggregate. However, the victory came at a cost for Nunes.

The £53m midfielder was taken off after 74 minutes after landing awkwardly on his left hand, with television coverage showing his left middle finger badly bent.

The former Wolves man was in clear discomfort as he left the field with his hand bandaged up by City's medical team.

20-year-old academy prospect Micah Hamilton was brought on Nunes' place, as Pep Guardiola fielded a heavily rotated team ahead of Sunday's showdown with Liverpool.

The clash at Anfield promises to be one of the most hotly anticipated of the Premier League season, as leaders Liverpool host second-placed City.

There will be just ten league games left to play afterwards and Sunday's meeting could prove to be a pivotal moment in this year's title race, with the two challengers separated by just a point.

While Liverpool's litany of injury issues are well-known, City could be without three first-team stars for the tie.

Along with Nunes, Jeremy Doku remains a doubt.

The Belgian was left out of the squad that beat Copenhagen, with Guardiola revealing prior to kick-off that the winger was suffering with an issue.

The City manager said: "He had some muscular problems so we did not want to take the risk."

Meanwhile, Jack Grealish is likely to miss the game too after his latest injury setback in a stop-start season for the 28-year-old.

Liverpool team news

Liverpool will hope to have Mohamed Salah fit once again for the visit of City, with the 31-year-old winger part of the Reds' travelling squad for the Europa League last 16 first leg at Sparta Prague on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Dominik Szoboszlai and Darwin Nunez made returns from their own fitness issues off the bench last weekend in the win over Nottingham Forest and should be in contention to start as long as there are no unexpected setbacks before the weekend.

The likes of Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Curtis Jones, Diogo Jota and Ryan Gravenberch, however, remain among those still unavailable.

Youngster Jayden Danns too is a doubt after it was revealed he suffered concussion in the win over Nottingham Forest last weekend.