Manchester City will be without defender Aymeric Laporte for Sunday’s Carabao Cup Final clash with Aston Villa at the Wembley Stadium on Sunday.

The Frenchman has been ruled out for a month after he pulled a Hamstring in the Citizens 2-1 away win at the Santiago Bernabeu where they emerged 2-1 winners against Real Madrid In the first leg of their UEFA Champions League round of 16 encounters.

Laporte was incidentally just returning from a length lay off when he played just 33 minutes of the first half when he was pulled off for Fernandinho in the game against the Spaniards, and the game was his fourth game since his initial return.

Manager of the Manchester-based team, Pep Guardiola confirmed Laporte confirmed his injury on Friday. “He has a hamstring injury. Three weeks out more or less – a month,” Guardiola said.

Laporte had gone under the knife in August 2019 for a Knee surgery but returned in January against Sheffield in a 1-0 win for City.

The Citizens will go into the 2nd leg of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 clashes with Real Madrid on the 17th of March with an away lead.

Meanwhile, German Winger Leroy Dane will continue his return from a knee injury by participating in a game between Manchester City U23s and Arsenal U23s on Friday.

Manchester City will face Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup Final on Sunday in a bid to defend the title they won last season against Chelsea.

After a 0-0 draw in 90 minutes, City won on penalties against the Blues. This season, they will face an Aston Villa side that has won 2 of their last five games with their last three games being losses.

Manchester City has been inconsistent, but are gradually finding their form. Lately, the team has won their last three games on the bounce in including a 2-1 win against Real Madrid on Wednesday.

Manchester City are fancied at 1.13 to defeat Aston Villa in the Cup final, while Villa are backed at 19.62.

Written by: Daniel Ademiju Idowu