Manchester City suffer a major injury blow to one of their key players ahead of Thursday’s Premier League clash away against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Pep Guardiola has confirmed that Manchester City striker Erling Haaland will miss Thursday’s Premier League clash away against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Haaland was a notable absentee from the Citizens team that secured a slender 1-0 win over Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals last weekend after he failed to recover in time from a niggling muscle injury.
The 23-year-old sustained his problem in City’s Champions League quarter-final encounter with Real Madrid last week and Guardiola revealed after the match that the striker requested to be taken off before his side lost on penalties.
Haaland was absent from an open training session at City Football Academy on Tuesday along with Phil Foden, raising concerns over their availability for Thursday’s trip to the American Express Stadium.
Guardiola has since issued a mixed update on the fitness of his first-team squad, confirming that he is unable to call upon his leading marksman.
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Haaland ruled out, Foden, Stones in contention to play
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Guardiola said: “Erling is not ready for tomorrow. The other two (Foden and John Stones) are ready.”
“It’s not a big issue but he’s not available,” the Catalan added with regards to Haaland.
Amidst City’s hectic fixture schedule, City have only had a few days to rest and recover from their FA Cup semi-final win last Saturday, and two Premier League games in the space of just three days against Brighton and Nottingham Forest are up next.
Guardiola has refused to rule out the possibility of rotating his squad, where possible, in the final few weeks of the campaign and has insisted that every member of his squad has a role to play as the Citizens endeavour to win a domestic double.
“Every player deserves to play,” said Guardiola. “Everyone has their starting XI or favourite players but everyone has their contribution. We have had three or four days since the last game against Chelsea.”
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Who will start for Man City in Haaland’s absence?
Haaland may not have reached the remarkable goalscoring numbers he achieved last season, but the Norwegian still boasts an impressive 31 goals from 39 appearances in all competitions so far this term, highlighting his importance in the final third for Guardiola’s side.
City’s No.9 has netted three times in many appearances against Brighton, including a goal in a 2-1 victory in the reverse fixture at the Etihad Stadium earlier this season.
However, in his absence, Julian Alvarez is expected to lead the line for the Citizens; the Argentine has contributed with 16 goals and 13 assists in 48 games for Man City this season, including a strike in the aforementioned win over Brighton, although he has not scored in any of his last 10 Premier League outings.
Meanwhile, Foden will hope to retain his starting spot in attack, pending a late fitness check, and will look to add to his 22 goals scored so far this season; only Haaland (31) has netted more for City than the Englishman, with Alvarez third on the list.
Foden will fancy his chances of making the net ripple on Thursday as he has scored six goals in his previous nine meetings with Brighton, including four strikes in his last three visits to the Amex.
Man City currently sit third in the Premier League table and four points behind leaders Arsenal, who thrashed Chelsea 5-0 on Tuesday, but Guardiola’s men have two games in hand and can move to within a point of the summit with victory over Brighton.
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