Erling Haaland is facing the prospect of being sidelined for City vs Liverpool at the Etihad on Saturday as the Norwegian star struggles to overcome a groin problem.
Haaland has not trained with his teammates for the past two days since the Man City players returned from the international break. Previously, this player was forced to withdraw from Norway’s EURO 2024 qualifying campaign against Spain and Georgia.
Due to a lack of preparation, Pep Guardiola must decide whether he can risk the 42-goal forward in a game Man City need to win to close the eight-point gap with leaders Arsenal.
Haaland’s father Alfie has pointed out that the 22-year-old is unlikely to play until he returns to training. The former Norwegian player said last week: “You can’t just go two weeks without training and then jump right into a fight. It takes an improvement in health to be able to play.
They can bet on that, but if Erling doesn’t train properly with the team, he won’t play.”
Haaland started in the 63rd minute of City’s 6-0 win over Burnley in the FA Cup two weeks ago and scored his sixth hat-trick of the season.
The former Dortmund striker complained of groin discomfort and was dismissed by the Norwegian medical team after returning to international competition. The player flew to Barcelona to see renowned surgeon Dr Ramon Cugat, and has been treated at Man City ever since.
Losing Haaland will be a big blow to Guardiola, when the Spaniard was also certainly without Phil Foden’s services after the England star underwent surgery to remove his appendix.
Man City is currently ranked 2nd in the English Premier League table with 61 points, 8 points behind the leader Arsenal but has played less than 1 match.
