Man City receive Erling Haaland injury boost ahead of Liverpool clash

Erling Haaland was pictured in Manchester City training on Thursday ahead of this weekend’s Premier League clash against Liverpool.

The striker has been an injury concern in the build-up to the game after suffering a recurrence of an ankle issue last week, which forced him to sit out Norway’s draw against Scotland. Manager Stale Solbakken described the problem as ‘not a serious injury’ last week, an assessment which appears to have been proved correct.

Haaland was among several first-team players pictured in City’s training gallery on Thursday, along with Nathan Ake. The Dutchman had to pull out of the Netherlands squad due to injury, but his involvement in training will be a huge boost for Pep Guardiola.

Sky Sports also reported that Ederson took part in the session, although he wasn’t pictured in the club’s training gallery, with only a handful of senior players caught by the cameras. The goalkeeper withdrew early from Brazil duty two weeks ago and was another doubt for the visit of Liverpool this weekend.

The three returning players offer Guardiola greater depth, but there are outstanding injury issues for the ex-Barcelona boss. Mateo Kovacic and Matheus Nunes also were forced to leave the Croatia and Portugal camps early, and there was no news on either midfielder on Thursday.

Kevin De Bruyne remains a long-term absentee, while John Stones won’t be involved against Liverpool due to a hip injury. Guardiola will almost certainly be asked for a full update on the fitness of his squad during Friday’s pre-match press conference.

As for Liverpool, Joe Gomez, Ibrahima Konate, Ryan Gravenberch and Curtis Jones are doubts, and Jurgen Klopp will provide the latest news on the quartet in Friday’s media briefing.