Erling Haaland’s senior career has not gone without injuries, but the Nordic machine’s near ubiquity last season allowed him to break seemingly every scoring record in existence.
Haaland missed just three games for the Cityzens amid their treble-winning campaign, ending the season with an absurd 52 goals in 53 appearances.
City’s demonic forward has appeared more human at the start of 2023/24, with Arsenal fans quick to point out that he “failed the William Saliba test” back in October. However, Haaland remains a goalscoring phenomenon and, in all likelihood, his goals will ensure Pep Guardiola’s side enjoy another trophy-laden season.
The Cityzens’ squad is so good that any sustained Haaland absence likely wouldn’t be crippling – they beat Liverpool 4-1 amid their charge to the title without him, for example – and the presence of World Cup winner Julian Alvarez would certainly allay any fears regarding a potential drop off if Haaland was to succumb to an injury.
The Norwegian international did suffer a scare during an annoyingly unproductive (for FPL owners) outing against Bournemouth, but will Haaland miss any time as a result?
Haaland was withdrawn at half-time of City’s 6-1 beatdown of Bournemouth due to an ankle knock. The Cityzens were 3-0 up at the break before cruising to victory in the second half as summer arrival Jeremy Doku stole the show.
However, Guardiola confirmed post-match that he withdrew his striker, whom he said “didn’t feel comfortable”, as a precaution.
The Spaniard then added ahead of City’s Champions League fixture against Young Boys on Tuesday night that Haaland is in contention, but admitted that he wasn’t sure whether the striker would feature in midweek.
“We will train this afternoon so I don’t know,” Guardiola told reporters on Monday. “I spoke with the doctor and him. Yesterday he said he felt much better but I don’t know. Tomorrow I will listen to the doctor. If he says he doesn’t have pain, I will consider letting him play.”
Even if Haaland is in a position to play on Tuesday, Guardiola might consider resting his star forward with Sunday’s Premier League clash at Chelsea in mind.
Man City are cruising in Group G and are almost guaranteed to qualify for the knockout stages as group winners. It’s a game they can win at a canter in Haaland’s absence, with Guardiola also noting that Alvarez, who’s played in a slightly deeper position this season, will get the nod up top if he opts against utilising the former Borussia Dortmund hitman.
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