Pep Guardiola gives Erling Haaland & Phil Foden fitness updates ahead of Man City vs Liverpool

Erling Haaland is a major injury concern ahead of Manchester City’s clash against Liverpool.
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Pep Guardiola has said he will know late on Friday afternoon if Erling Haaland will be available to face Liverpool this weekend.

The Manchester City striker was forced to pull out of the Norway squad during the recent international break with a groin injury he suffered in the FA Cup win over Burnley. His father, Alfie, also last week described the 22-year-old’s chances of being fit in time to face Liverpool as ‘touch and go’.

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Haaland was absent from City training on Thursday and it was reported the former Borussia Dortmund man worked away from the group. Asked about Haaland ahead of the Liverpool game, Guardiola said the forward is ‘feeling good’ but added he is unsure at this stage whether the no.9 will be fit in time to face Liverpool.

“Erling is recovering. We have the last training session and we will see how we feels. We will see this afternoon. The last training at 4 o’clock, we will see how he feels” he said. “We will see today and the doctors and the players will decide how he feels. I spoke with him yesterday and he feels good. We will see what happens. Life is a risk in these stages,” Guardiola added.

Haaland’s injury comes on the back of the attacker scoring eight in his last two matches prior to the international break. He followed up the five scored against RB Leipzig with a hat-trick as City beat Burnley. With Haaland out, Guardiola is expected to hand Julian Alvarez a rare Premier League start. The Argentinian has only been named in the starting line-up six times in the league this season.

Guardiola also gave an update on Phil Foden’s fitness on Friday. The City youth-team graduate underwent surgery to remove is appendix during the international break, and he will miss the weekend clash with Liverpool.

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Speaking on Friday, Guardiola said Foden should be back in a few weeks’ time. “The doctors tell me two or three weeks - I think so - and we will see his development from appendicitis surgery,” said the City boss.

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