Man City’s title hopes take a major blow as Ruben Dias is set to miss a MONTH after playing 90 minutes injured at the World Cup

MANCHESTER CITY’s hopes of defending their title against Arsenal have suffered a major blow.

That is after star defender Ruben Dias was sidelined for at least a month.

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The 25-year-old centre-back reportedly picked up a hamstring injury during his World Cup appearances with Portugal.

The Mail claims Dias suffered the problem in his country’s Round of 16 win over Switzerland.

But instead of taking some time off, he played the entirety of Portugal’s quarter-final loss to Morocco just days later.

And Dias is now planning a return to action in February, delivering a serious blow to Pep Guardiola in the back.

The 2021 Prem Player of the Season will miss City’s Crunch League clashes against Manchester United and Chelsea.

And he will also be sidelined for City’s FA Cup clash against the latter as well as the Carabao Cup quarter against Southampton.

Guardiola must now decide how to shuffle his pack, with many options still open to him.

John Stones, Aymeric Laporte, Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji were all present in Carabao’s win over rivals Liverpool yesterday.

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But none can match the unique blend of strength, pace and leadership that Dias brings to City’s backline.

Dias, a £60m buy from Benfica in 2020, has made 109 appearances for the champions.

He has won back-to-back titles under Guardiola.

But with City already five points behind leaders Arsenal this season, his side can no longer afford to slip up at a key point in the season.