Manchester City could be sans two key players in their attacking third when they face Liverpool on Saturday. Erling Haaland might not be in the mix as he left Norway camp this international break with a minor injury to his groin. Then there is Phil Foden, where there is nothing minor about his situation.
He had to get an emergency appendectomy done this week, and he is now out indefinitely. We don’t know yet what other matches he might miss beyond the Liverpool tilt, but here is a link to more on his situation.
Liverpool at Manchester City FYIs
Kickoff: Saturday 1 April, 12:30pm GMT, The Etihad, Manchester, UK
Team News: Liverpool Manchester City
Starting XI Predictions: Liverpool Manchester City
Transatlantic Passage: How the Premier League Redefined Soccer in America: LINK
PL Standing: Liverpool 6th 42 pts Manchester City 2nd, 61 pts
PL Form: Liverpool LWWDW Manchester City WWWDW
Google Result Probability: Liverpool 17% Draw 22% Manchester City 61%
As for Haaland, some reports out there say that he will be ready for the weekend. It really comes down to just how cautious Pep Guardiola and company really want to be here.
So it is really tricky to predict whether Haaland will feature in this one or not. For what it is worth, this is what his father Alfie told Norway’s TV 2 Sport: “Manchester City has a partnership with a hospital in Barcelona so he has been there for further checks and treatment.
“Now he has been [in Marbella] for a couple of days with the physio from the club. Firstly, I’m not a doctor and secondly, I think it’s ‘touch and go’, yes. You can’t just go two weeks without training and then jump right into a fight. There must be a progression there.
“They can gamble on it, but if he doesn’t get proper training with the team, then he won’t play. It is about how he responds to treatment in the next few days. He needs a lot of care.”
I guess we’ll just have to wait and see on Saturday…unless Guardiola says something informative about this at his presser on Friday.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager 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.”
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