Pep Guardiola has revealed that Erling Haaland could return to action when Manchester City travel to Southampton this weekend.
The Norwegian striker was sidelined with a groin injury for City’s 4-1 win over Liverpool on Saturday, but still managed to wildly celebrate their goals from the stands.
City managed to get the better of Jurgen Klopp’s side without their prolific goal scorer, but there will still be a number of concerned fans ahead of their upcoming meeting with Bayern Munich.
Guardiola’s side take on the Bundesliga outfit in their Champions League quarter-final first leg clash next Tuesday, and will be hoping that Haaland is ready to play.
The Norwegian has played a crucial role in City’s success this year and could continue to do so against Southampton, as the City boss confirmed that Haaland will likely be fit in time to feature at St Mary’s.
Erling Haaland has been recovering from a groin injury sustained at the end of last month
Man City boss Pep Guardiola is hopeful that Haaland will be fit for their Southampton clash
Speaking after their win over Liverpool, Guardiola revealed: ‘Erling is getting better. ‘On Friday he felt a little bit better compared to the previous two days.
‘It’s five days to Southampton, so hopefully can still help us like he has all season.’
Manchester City will travel to bottom of the league Southampton on Saturday afternoon, as they look to close the gap between themselves and league leaders Arsenal.
Guardiola also revealed that his players have been given three days off following the win over Liverpool to prepare for the blockbuster end to their campaign.
‘The players need to rest,’ said Guardiola. ‘I was on holiday in my hometown in Catalonia, but they were with their national teams.
‘After that, if you continue in the Champions League or FA Cup, you have a lot of games. So, stay away, then we have three days to prepare for Southampton, then Bayern Munich, Leicester, Sheffield United and Arsenal.’
Haaland picked up the injury after scoring a hat-trick in City’s 6-0 victory over Burnley in their FA Cup quarter-final at the end of last month.
On Saturday, he watched from the stands at the Etihad Stadium in a game where they temporarily closed to gap to league leaders Arsenal to five points.
Haaland has scored 42 goals across all competitions this season, breaking records with his ability to find the net.
Haaland was ecstatic and celebrated every time City scored in their win over Liverpool
The forward also performed the iconic Poznan, which sees a back-to-play jumping motion
source:dailymail.co.uk
