Erling Haaland has scored 25 goals in just 21 Premier League games this season but the Man City striker is likely to miss the crunch tie against Arsenal.
Man City and Arsenal go head-on on Wednesday night but Pep Guardiola might have to set up his first XI without his top-scorer. Haaland picked up a knock in the Aston Villa game on Sunday and as per the latest updates, the 22-year-old is not going to be 100% fit before City head to North London.
Guardiola told Sky Sports(h/t 90Min): “I don’t know, he had a big knock and he wasn’t comfortable. We will see and we will assess in the next days.
“If he’s not ready, we’ll play another one. Hopefully, he’s ready like everyone but we’ll see. At half-time, I spoke with the doctors. They said maybe with the score like it is we don’t take risks, and I agreed.
“If the score was tighter, then maybe I don’t do it. I think he is not injured but on Monday we are going to see. Hopefully he can be in for Wednesday. But if he is not ready or there is some risk, he is not going to play.”
Haaland provided an assist in that 3-1 win over Villa before he was taken off at half-time and even though this one is a key match, there’s no way Pep Guardiola is going to risk using him in midweek.
Apart from the Premier League, Manchester City are still playing in the FA Cup and the Champions League so it makes no sense for him to select an injured Erling Haaland(and risk aggravating the injury).
Julian Alvarez has done great whenever he’s been called upon and Pep Guardiola will be hoping that he can fill the boots of the Norwegian international.
There’s no denying that Erling Haaland will be a massive miss against Arsenal but Man City have a plethora of talent at their disposal and they are even adept at playing with a false-nine.
