Erling Haaland absent from Manchester City squad against Liverpool | OneFootball

Manchester City will be without Erling Haaland for their Premier League clash against Liverpool on Sunday afternoon, it has been confirmed.

The 24-year-old was a surprise absentee from Pep Guardiola’s starting line-up that took on Real Madrid in European action on Wednesday night having seemingly avoided any serious injury problem during last weekend’s 4-0 win over Newcastle.

Haaland sustained a problem with his knee during the final moments of an important win having landed awkwardly while flicking on a header at a corner for James McAtee to convert and round off the scoring late on in the game.

Having been withdrawn from the action, Erling Haaland reappeared at the full-time whistle to celebrate the win on the pitch with his Manchester City teammates, and appeared to be moving without problem.

The City striker then featured in full first-team training as planned in front of the media last Tuesday morning, but informed Pep Guardiola and club coaching staff of discomfort while moving on the morning of the Santiago Bernabeu clash.

Now, having missed out entirely on the club’s 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid in UEFA Champions League action on Wednesday night, the Norwegian will also play no part in the matchday duties against Liverpool this weekend.

Speaking during his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon, Pep Guardiola was unable to provide any confirmation as to whether Haaland would feature for his side at the weekend.

It also remains unknown whether Haaland took part in first-team training on Saturday, as Guardiola told reporters 24 hours earlier, “I don’t know yet,” on his number nine’s availability for Sunday afternoon’s contest.

The Manchester City manager continued, “Tomorrow we’ll know it, I don’t know yet. Yeah, maybe [I’m hopeful], but I don’t know because we don’t train today, until tomorrow he will test.”

One positive for Manchester City fans, despite the obvious disappointment of absence against the Merseyside club on matchday 26, is that Haaland appears to be set for an immediate return after the weekend with an away trip to Tottenham looming.

That is according to the information of reliable Etihad Stadium insider ‘FPLMaineRoad’ on X, who reported on Sunday afternoon that Erling Haaland would return to Manchester City duties for the clash at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Wednesday night.