Arsenal and Mikel Arteta have been given a huge Premier League title boost after Pep Guardiola confirmed that Ruben Dias returned from the World Cup with a hamstring injury. Dias played all of Portugal's World Cup fixtures but returned from Qatar with an issue that saw him miss City's Carabao Cup last-16 win against Liverpool.
After the Gunners lost Gabriel Jesus to a World Cup injury, the same fate has fallen upon their title rivals with Dias set to miss City's return to Premier League action against Leeds on Wednesday, December 28.
Dias has played 12 of City's 14 league games this season, making full 90-minute appearances on eight occasions, along with five Champions league starts.
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The frequent changes from Guardiola often keep his City team fresh and able to compete in a number of competitions, but the consistency of Dias being selected clearly indicates just how important he is to Guardiola.
Following the 3-2 win over Liverpool the absence of the 25-year-old was explained, with Guardiola saying: "Ruben Dias is injured. Ruben has a hamstring from the last game in the World Cup and he is out."
The Spaniard did not offer a timeline on the injury, but Daily Mail reporter Jack Gaughan has revealed that the defender will miss up to a month of action after suffering the initial injury against Switzerland in the last-16, before going on to play 90 minutes in the quarter-final defeat to Morocco.
Anything that is a blow for City at this stage is a title boost for Arsenal and the absence of Dias is certainly that. Although, unsurprisingly, City have significant depth in the position after recruiting Manuel Akanji from Borussia Dortmund in the summer.
Alongside Akanji, Guardiola can also call on John Stones, Aymeric Laporte and Nathan Ake, but Dias not being in the back four is sure to have some impact on City's defensive stability.
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