Erling Haaland is an injury doubt for Man City vs. Liverpool on Sunday, Pep Guardiola claims, but Reds supporters will see it as little more than mind games.
Haaland suffered a suspected knee injury during Man City‘s 4-0 win over Newcastle last weekend, but was named in the squad for their Champions League decider at Real Madrid.
Going unused in that 3-1 loss, it was assumed that the striker was being preserved for the visit of Liverpool in the Premier League.
But Guardiola explained after that game that Haaland had informed him he was not ready to feature – similar to Curtis Jones going unused in the FA Cup loss at Plymouth – due to discomfort in walking.
In an update during his pre-match press conference on Friday, the Man City manager claimed that Haaland is still a doubt for the weekend.
“Don’t know yet. Tomorrow we will know,” he said when asked about the Norwegian’s availability, with tests planned for Saturday.
“It’s better to have Erling on the pitch. Everybody is responsible for the good things and bad things for the team but obviously with Erling we are better.”
To leave the matter so late suggests Haaland would not be fit to start, but given the mind games Guardiola has employed before Liverpool games over the years – including with the fitness of his No. 9 – it would be no surprise if he did.
One player who is ruled out for Man City, however, is John Stones, who suffered a quad injury against Real Madrid.
“He is injured – a difficult one,” Guardiola explained. “In the next days we will know if he needs surgery or not.”
Along with Stones, Man City will be without Rodri (knee), Manuel Akanji (thigh) and Oscar Bobb (leg), with few changes likely from the defeat to Real Madrid.
Haaland could come back in if fit, while Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish, Jeremy Doku, Matheus Nunes and Rico Lewis were also unused substitutes and may be considered to start.
Nathan Ake and Mateo Kovacic came off the bench in Madrid and could feasibly replace Stones and Ilkay Gundogan respectively.
Liverpool are without Conor Bradley (hamstring), Joe Gomez (hamstring) and Tyler Morton (shoulder) for their trip to Manchester, while Arne Slot described Cody Gakpo (ankle) as a “close call” on Thursday.
