Pep Guardiola revealed in the aftermath of Manchester City’s 1-0 win over Leicester City that Erling Haaland suffered a ligament injury which kept him out of Saturday’s Premier League meeting, but it remains to be seen when he’ll return.
City have four games to play in November before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar comes around – Sevilla (November 2), Fulham (November 5), Chelsea (November 9), Brentford (November 12) – and there’s a fear Haaland could miss them all.
Where will Manchester City finish in the Premier League this season?
1st
2nd
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5th or lower
As per City’s official website, Pep told reporters: “I am pretty sure against Sevilla, no (he won’t play). We have already qualified. And against Fulham we will see. We have (five) days until that day. We will see.”
Haaland had scored 22 goals with three assists from 16 games in all competitions before getting injured, so he will be badly missed. Julian Alvarez deputised for the 22-year-old against Leicester but didn’t put in a good performance, so Guardiola might ponder where the goals are coming from if he doesn’t improve.
Haaland is City’s top goalscorer in the Premier League with 17 goals, but Phil Foden only has six goals while their third-highest scorer has three to their name (Kevin De Bruyne).
In fact, Haaland has only scored two less goals than every other player put together (19) – Foden (6), De Bruyne (3), Bernardo Silva (2), Ilkay Gundogan (2), Joao Cancelo (2), Alvarez (2), Jack Grealish (1), Riyad Mahrez (1) – so this will be a test.
In other news, Pep Guardiola gives honest explanation why Gabriel Jesus was sold to Arsenal
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