Manchester City began their title defence in the best possible way last weekend with a routine 2-0 win over Arsenal.

Pep Guardiola’s silky side will be confident of becoming the first team to win the Premier League twice in a row since city rivals Manchester United achieved the feat in 2009.

They coasted to the title last season, scoring over 100 points on their way to finishing 19 points ahead of their nearest challenges.

And, while they may not have conducted a great deal of business during the transfer window, they are still favourite to be crowned the best team in the land come next May.

However, their hopes may have taken quite a blow this week after news that Kevin De Bruyne had suffered a pretty serious looking knee injury in training.

The Belgian was by far and away City’s best player last season and played a massive part in them steamrolling basically everyone who tried to stop them.

The Rolls-Royce midfielder was involved in 24 goals in the league last season, scoring eight while assisting 16 and it is that kind of contribution that Guardiola will surely miss.

With Liverpool looking mighty strong at the beginning of the season, City will need to make sure De Bruyne’s absence doesn’t leave them rocking.

However, fans might just breathe a sigh of relief after comments from De Bruyne’s agent, who has suggested the injury is not as serious as may have been feared.

“I had him on the phone for a few minutes and he confirmed to me that he had injured himself on training the same knee this morning as he did then, and it felt the same,” said Patrick De Koster.

“Then there were no ligaments torn, and that’s the most important thing, then we talk about 6 to 9 months of absence, Kevin did not think that happened, tomorrow’s medical tests will bring more clarity about how bad or bad it will be.”

No ligament damage is good news for City fans.

De Koster then concluded:

“It is unfortunate for him, the season starts and it is always fun to be there, but as long as the ligaments are not torn, we can continue to hope for a speedy recovery.”

While De Bruyne’s genius will undoubtedly be missed, Liverpool fans might just be feeling slightly optimistic that his absence may just leave the door ever so slightly ajar.

City will want him back and firing as soon as possible.