Premier League fantasy football: Aymeric Laporte injury update

It’s been a difficult season for Aymeric Laporte and Manchester City.

The reigning Premier League champions have been without their star centre-back for a large chunk of the campaign through injury, with the Frenchman missing every game since mid-September before returning last month.

But after making just four appearances since his recovery, the defender is potentially set to face another troublesome spell on the sidelines.

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Laporte limped off during City’s terrific 2-1 win over Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday, lasting just 32 minutes before he was replaced by Fernandinho.

The 25-year-old looked suitably devastated as he trudged off the field, although City have yet to confirm the severity of his latest set-back.

However, manager Pep Guardiola hinted that he’s already preparing for Laporte’s absence in the second-leg of their round of 16 clash.

He said: “He’s injured and it’s a problem of being out injured for four or five months and then coming back still mending.

“It’s a pity because we dream to be with him until the end but unfortunately we have suffered a lot this season in this department.

“But I am sure with John (Stones), Eric (Garcia), Nick (Otamendi) and Fernandinho we’ll go through.”

Laporte did suffer a small hamstring problem during his first game back against Sheffield United in January, and it kept him out for a further three games afterwards.

It has been suggested that this injury could be a recurrence of that, especially as it appeared he was clutching his left leg as he walked off the pitch.

While not ideal, this would be better case scenario than the knee-related injury he’s had for the most of the season.

Either way, this a blow for City and also causes another selection headache for Dream Team managers at a particularly tricky time of the season. 

Laporte has been one of fantasy football’s most popular defenders since his Premier League arrival in 2018; evident by the large number of you that selected him again upon his return from injury.

He’s notched 21 points in total in the three Game Weeks he appeared in since, with City not conceding a single goal while he’s been back in action; in stark contrast to their defensive struggles with the bumbling Otamendi and Stones in their back-line.

Laporte’s return was considered vital to City’s ambitions for the rest of the season, with the Blues seemingly focusing all of their efforts on winning the Champions League – with Liverpool so far ahead of them in the Premier League title race.

The decision not to replace former-captain Vincent Kompany in the summer with a reliable centre-back option has been one of the consistent drawbacks of their campaign, and has occasionally resulted in Pep deploying 34-year-old midfielder Fernandinho as a makeshift defender.

Dream Team fans may also have to consider other options for their next Game Week, with Harry Maguire (£3.7m), Joe Gomez (£3.3m) and Matt Doherty popular alternatives on the game at the moment.

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