Major Manchester City team news coming out of the FA Cup winning weekend. Striker supreme Erling Haaland suffered an ankle injury yesterday, in the FA Cup quarterfinal win over Bournemouth, which will keep him sidelined for a substantial period of time.
There is some realistic optimism that Haaland can still return before the season ends, however.
Leicester City at Manchester City FYIs
Kick-off time: 7:45PM GMT, Wednesday, April 2, Etihad Stadium, Manchester, UK
Form Guide Premier League: Leicester LLLLL Manchester City WLWLD
Manchester City Preview Material Team News Starting Lineup
Premier League Position: Leicester City 17 pts, 19th Manchester City 5th, 48 pts
Result Probability: Leicester City win 7% Draw 13% Manchester City win 80%
Man City Team News
A statement issued by the club earlier today reads: “Manchester City FC can confirm that Erling Haaland has suffered an injury to his left ankle.
“Erling underwent initial tests in Manchester on Monday morning and will now seek specialist consultation to confirm the full extent of the injury.
“Assessment remains ongoing to ascertain a full prognosis. The expectation is that Erling will be fit in time to play a further part in the remainder of this season, including this summer’s FIFA Club World Cup.”
So we’ll just have to wait and see on Haaland, but speaking of the Club World Cup, Rodri (recovering from knee ligament surgery) may not be back in time to feature for that.
“I don’t know [if he will feature at the Club World Cup]… I wish, I hope,” City manager Pep Guardiola said on Friday.
“He’s behaving really well [in training], but competition is different. We have to be sure he’s fine… Then [we will see].”
The tournament, which will be staged in 12 different venues across the United States, takes place from June 14-July 13.
Other than Rodri and Haaland, there are no more team news updates to share at this point. Everything else is the same as before the 2-1 win over the Cherries.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.