Pep Guardiola gives injury update on Erling Haaland and rates chances of playing vs Fulham

Pep Guardiola has said Erling Haaland is ‘feeling better’ every day following his recent injury, and added he is hopeful the Norwegian will be fit to face Fulham this weekend.

The Manchester City manager revealed on Saturday that Haaland has suffered ligament damage and therefore was not involved in the 1-0 win over Leicester City. And speaking ahead of the midweek Champions League clash with Sevilla, Guardiola said Haaland won’t be in training and won’t feature against the Spanish side.

“For tomorrow he is not available,” said the former Barcelona manager. “He feels better. Every day - Sunday, Monday - he feels better and still he is not 100 percent. We don’t want to take a risk, there is no sense. Hopefully we can have him against Fulham.

City play Sevilla on Wednesday in a dead rubber in their final Champions League group game, with the Blues already wrapping up first place while the visitors at the Etihad are set to finish third regardless of the result.

After that it’s Fulham, where Haaland could be back, followed by a Carabao Cup clash with Chelsea and then Brentford at home in the Premier League in City’s final game before the World Cup.

Man City team news

Guardiola was giving little away when asked for team news ahead of Wednesday’s game and said he will make an assessment after Tuesday’s training session.

The 51-year-old was also quizzed on whether any fringe players could feature such as Rico Lewis and Cole Palmer. “I have to see the training session and see the players,” he responded.

“But of course four days, the recovery is different to three. We played Brighton on Saturday and in Germany [against Dortmund] on Tuesday [last week]. The travelling is four days. Here it is different.

“But of course, the players who are not playing regularly are going to play. Let me see the training session and tomorrow I will see.”

Asked whether Palmer will be fit to play, Guardiola said: “Yes. He trained after the [Leicester] game and he trained really well. He doesn’t have to show me anything special. If he plays, I don’t know yet, I have to speak to the doctors and see the training session. After the training session I will see which players start.

“But he has to be himself. If he is here it is because he has all the attributes to play with us. But he does not have to prove anything to me tomorrow if he has the opportunity. He has few and he will have [more] in the future.”