Erling Haaland is a serious doubt for Manchester City’s Premier League clash with Liverpool this weekend.
The striker was forced to withdraw from the Norway squad during the recent batch of international fixtures and was described as ‘touch and go’ by his father, when asked about the 22-year-old’s chances of being fit in time to face Liverpool.
Haaland wasn’t involved in City training on Thursday and Pep Guardiola gave a vague reply when asked if his star performer will be available for Sunday. Assuming Haaland does miss out when Jurgen Klopp’s side come to the Etihad, Julian Alvarez is the most likely option to start up front, although Pep Guardiola could revert to the striker-less system he habitually used last season.
Haaland isn’t the only fitness concern ahead of the weekend. Phil Foden is unavailable after he underwent surgery to remove his appendix during the international break, an issue which forced him to leave the England camp early. City have already confirmed Foden won’t have recovered in time for the Liverpool fixture and he is also a doubt for the upcoming matches against Southampton and Bayern Munich.
Other than that, Guardiola is expected to have a fully fit squad. Ederson suffered from illness while away with Brazil last week, but has since been pictured in City training and there shouldn’t be any issues with the goalkeeper this weekend.
Guardiola will, as always, have plenty of decisions to make ahead of the Liverpool encounter, especially in defence where Ruben Dias, John Stones, Nathan Ake, Aymeric Laporte and Nathan Ake are all available. Meanwhile, the ex-Barcelona boss is likely to face his regular dilemma of which three will start in midfield from Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne.
With all that in mind, here’s how we think City will line up on Saturday...
1. GK: Ederson
Has played every league match this season and has recovered from a recent stomach bug.
2. RB: Kyle Walker
Played for England over the break and is more likely to start than Rico Lewis.
3. CB: Ruben Dias
Impressed in recent weeks and City have been defensively assured since he’s come into the side.
4. CB: John Stones
We’re tipping the England star to play ahead of Akanji or Laporte at the heart of defence.