Manchester City striker Erling Haaland remains a doubt for the Premier League champions’ clash with Liverpool at the Etihad on Sunday, live on Sky Sports, as the striker recovers from a knee injury, manager Pep Guardiola said in his pre-match press conference on Friday.
Haaland hurt his right knee late in City’s 4-0 win over Newcastle United last Saturday and did not play in the club’s 3-1 loss at Real Madrid on Wednesday which saw them eliminated from the Champions League at the last-16 stage.
Erling Haaland was an unused substitute at the Bernebeu
Asked about Haaland’s possible availability to face the league leaders this weekend, Guardiola said he was unsure and that the Norway international will undergo a test on Saturday.
“Maybe [he will be fit to play],” said Guardiola, “I don’t know yet. Tomorrow [Saturday] we will know it, but I don’t know. It’s better to have Erling on the pitch but obviously we don’t have it, but of course with Erling we are stronger.”
FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from Man City’s match against Newcastle United in the Premier League.
Meanwhile, Guardiola confirmed England centre-back John Stones, who also came off early at the Santiago Bernabeu in midweek, might require surgery on a leg injury and will not play against Liverpool.
City head into Sunday’s showdown against the Reds sitting in an unfamiliar fourth place in the top-flight standings, a massive 17 points behind Arne Slot’s team – and looking now just to make it back into next season’s Champions League.
Sunday 23rd February 4:00pm
Kick off 4:30pm
Scale of City rebuild still needed laid bare in Madrid
It’s really difficult to say in such a low moment, but I think that the facts are laid pretty bare that Man City were so far below the level they had to be to compete against Real Madrid in Spain, wrote Sky Sports News reporter Ben Ransom in Madrid.
Sky Sports’ Ben Ransom reflects on Manchester City’s subpar performance against Real Madrid as Kylian Mbappe’s hat-trick helped Los Blancos dump Pep Guardiola’s side out of the UEFA Champions League.
Since I arrived in Madrid a couple of days ago, there was this growing belief that despite the first leg, despite the way that ended, City would come here and really challenge Madrid, would score, would trouble them.
I think that was the most concerning thing from Pep Guardiola’s point of view on Wednesday night – that the team were not the team we’re used to seeing. They were unrecognisable in the sense that with the ball they didn’t cause enough problems.
