After a stunning start to the Premier League season, it has been a difficult few weeks for the Manchester City player Raheem Sterling.
There have been some conflicting reports in the last 24 hours concerning the fitness of Manchester City player Raheem Sterling. Sterling limped off following the defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend with what appeared to be a hamstring injury.
Considering the sheer amount of football played by Sterling in the last few years, he has suffered surprisingly few injuries and instead has managed to keep himself fit and recover fully to play every few days.
This season alone he has played 35 games so far, scoring 20 goals and making 6 assists for Manchester City, although he has not yet scored in 2020. Last season he made 51 appearances for City, scoring 25 times and contributing 18 assists across all competitions.
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Whilst his record in the last 2 seasons has been extraordinary, it has not fully insulated him from criticism about some of his recent performances. His wastefulness in front of goal during the last 6 weeks, when he has snatched at chances, has left him in a barren run where he looks tired and in need of a rest.
For Pep Guardiola, Sterling has been undroppable and one of the very first names on the team sheet. That has seen him looking tired in recent performances and lacking some of his usual cutting edge.
Sterling has not suffered injury since the 2017/18 season when he missed a total of 26 days with a similar hamstring issue. In fact, during the last 6 seasons, Sterling has only missed a little over 2 months in total through injury -a pretty stunning injury record for an elite athlete.
Right now, there has been no official announcement from Manchester City concerning Sterling, but newspapers are reporting he has had a test on his hamstring and expects to be out for a period of 2 to 3 weeks.
An injury lay off of that length would mean he would be a doubt for the Champions League Round of 16 tie against Real Madrid which is due to take place on February 26th.
Whilst we can all appreciate Sterling could do with a rest, no one wants to see him injured and potentially out of our upcoming matches. Let us hope when official confirmation of the extent of the injury is announced, it is not as bad as feared.