Manchester City have kicked off in their Premier League meeting with Leicester City, but there’s no Erling Haaland in the starting eleven. The 22-year was an injury doubt ahead of the fixture at the King Power Stadium after picking up a knock in Tuesday’s 0-0 draw with Borussia Dortmund.
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Pep Guardiola said in Friday’s pre-match press conference that a decision would be made after Haaland’s final training session before City’s clash with the Foxes, so it doesn’t appear his condition improved later that day. He’s not even made the matchday squad, so it remains to be seen how serious the knock is.
How will Manchester City fare against Leicester City?
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Draw
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In his absence, Julian Alvarez was chosen to lead the line and will hope to put in a better showing than he did in City’s midweek Champions League outing. Elsewhere, Jack Grealish returns to the starting eleven at Riyad Mahrez’s expense after being benched against Dortmund.
Manchester City travel to East Midlands knowing a win will put them top of the Premier League table until Arsenal lock horns with Nottingham Forest on Sunday. Pep Guardiola’s are currently second with 26 points from 11 games, two points behind the Gunners.
City beat Brighton 3-1 in their last outing, but their away form has been an issue of late. The defending champions have failed to win their last three games on the road and haven’t managed a goal either, so it’s a bad time to lose Haaland.
Leicester are 15 places and 15 points worse off in the table than Man City, but they go into Saturday’s game off the back of consecutive league wins without conceding a goal. The Foxes might fancy an upset.
They’ve been flirting with relegation all season but can pull away from the drop zone if they can get a surprise result.
In other news, Pep Guardiola hails Julian Alvarez ahead of Leicester clash
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