Erling Haaland not expected to play vs Palace; Pep Guardiola hopeful over Club World Cup
William Burgess
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says he does not expect striker Erling Haaland to feature against Crystal Palace at the weekend as he continues to manage a foot injury.
Haaland missed last Sunday’s 2-1 win over Luton Town with what manager Pep Guardiola called a “bone stress reaction” in his foot. The 23-year-old then did not travel with the City squad for their Champions League game against Red Star Belgrade on Wednesday, though Guardiola’s side had already won their group ahead of kick-off.
Advertisement
Speaking at his press conference on Friday, Guardiola said that Haaland had been receiving treatment and that a decision would continue to be taken “day by day, week by week”.
The visit of Palace is City’s last before they set off for the Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia and Guardiola is hopeful Haaland will be part of the travelling squad for the tournament.
“He’s been having treatment away,” Guardiola said. “He arrived today and we’ll see; the doctors they will see him.
“Hopefully he can travel to Saudi after the game and after we’ll see if he’s able to play the first game or second.”
Put to him that it sounded like Haaland would not play against Palace, Guardiola said: “I don’t think so.”
Asked if he was worried about the injury, Guardiola said: “No, it’s not structure, it’s just stress. Day by day, week by week, we have to see how he feels.”
City’s first game in the Club World cup is the semi-final against Mexican side Leon or Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan in Jeddah on December 19, with those two teams facing off in a quarter-final later on Friday. City will then play in either the final or third-place play-off, both of which take place in Jeddah on December 22.
As a result, City are missing their Premier League match in gameweek 18. They had been due to host Brentford across December 21-24 but that game was postponed, with a rescheduled date yet to be announced. Their next domestic match comes on December 27, when they face Everton at Goodison Park.
Haaland had started every league game for City before the Luton match, scoring 14 goals in his 15 appearances. Julian Alvarez, who has predominantly featured in an advanced midfield role this season, led the line against Luton, while Oscar Bobb played as City’s No 9 in Serbia on Wednesday.
GO DEEPER
Pep Guardiola wants you to remember winning is hard… even for City
(Michael Regan/Getty Images)