- Haaland out with foot injury
- Striker out for unspecified period of time
- Defending champions City fourth in the Premier League
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has revealed that star striker Erling Haaland is sidelined due to a foot injury, specifically a bone stress reaction. Haaland, who has been instrumental in City’s campaign, was notably absent from the squad in their Premier League win at Luton Town.
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Haaland faces spell out
Guardiola provided insight into Haaland’s condition before the Luton match, stating, “After the last game against Aston Villa, he felt it and he cannot play.” However, the manager expressed uncertainty regarding the duration of Haaland’s absence, explaining, “I don’t know (the length of the injury). Week by week, day by day, we will see what happens.”
Despite the setback, Guardiola acknowledged Haaland’s significant contributions to the team, particularly in goal-scoring, where he leads the Premier League charts with 14 goals and has a total of 19 across all competitions this season. Guardiola emphasised the team’s need to adapt to challenges such as injuries, suspensions, and other issues that may arise during the course of the season.
The absence of Haaland, a key figure for Manchester City since his arrival, will undoubtedly pose challenges for the team. Guardiola and his staff will monitor the striker’s recovery progress closely, assessing his fitness on a regular basis to determine when he can make a return to the pitch.
City got back to winning ways with a 2-1 success at Luton.
Guardiola puts City stutter in perspective
City are looking for a fourth straight title, but, by their standards have stuttered lately. The win at Luton saw them avoid a fifth game without a Premier League win. The last time they went five without a Premier League victory was in 2009. Guardiola has never experienced that throughout his managerial career.
Their form is so unusual, but it has to be remembered that City have only lost once in their four match winless run and have faced three sides currently in the top five.
After back of five titles in six years, and a Champions League win last season, Guardiola feels the reaction is out of proportion.
“What they demand of us, they didn’t demand of our friends – at all,” the City boss said.
“There is only one team that is going to ‘fail’ to win the Premier League, that is us. For the rest, (winning) it is a big success. Any team.
“In the end, if they don’t win – Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, everyone – it is normal because City should win. It is unfair. It is difficult to handle that every week, every three days, for years and years.”
Betting Implications
City are still favourites for the title, however, by their own standards, they have dropped off the pace recently, with draws against Chelsea and Tottenham and a defeat to in-form Aston Villa. At the time of writing City are priced at 10/11 with bet365.
Bettors will need to monitor Haaland’s progress and look at how City deal with his absence. While any team would miss a player of Haaland’s class, City have plenty of attacking talent and Julian Alvarez is a player most Premier League sides would love to have leading their line.
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