When Manchester City hosts Burnley FC on Wednesday night, it will likely mark the return of the talismanic Erling Haaland. The big man has been out since Dec. 6, when City lost to Aston Villa 1-0, due to a foot injury.
And that foot injury has turned out to be much worse than initially thought, as the recovery has certainly contained some setbacks along the way.
Manchester City vs Burnley FC FYIs
Kickoff: Wed. Jan 31, 7:30 pm, The Etihad
Manchester City Preview Material: Team Newsย ย Starting XI Prediction
Transatlantic Passage: How the Premier League Redefined Soccer in America: LINK
Google Result Probability: Man Cityย 88%ย Drawย 8%ย Burnley FCย 4%
Premier League Form, Standing: Burnley DLLWLย 19th, 12 ptsย ย Man City 2nd, 43 pts, WWWDW
Series History: Burnley wins: 30ย Draws: 25ย Man City wins: 56
Odds: Burnley: +1700, Draw: +1100, Man City: -900
Man City Team News
โWhen he came back after two or three sessions and felt some disturbance, thatโs why we were a little cautious after we waited a long time and in December he couldnโt play for a long time,โ City manager Pep Guardiola said of the Haaland situation.
โWe tried to avoid it but now he feels good, weโll give him three or four days and hopefully he can play against Burnley and he can play his first minutes, weโll see.โ
Elsewhere beyond Haaland, John Stones is expected to be fit for this one while Manuel Akanji, who has been out with an unspecified injury, has about 50/50 chance, most likely, of playing here.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager ofย The Sports Bank.ย Heโs also theย author of โTransatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,โ andย โNo, I Canโt Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.โ
Heโs written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News,ย Sports Illustratedย andย theย Chicago Tribune.ย He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now, while writing for theย International Baseball Writers Association of America. You can follow the websiteย onย Twitter.
