- Erling Haaland missed Manchester City’s trip to Luton with a ‘bone stress injury’
- The Norwegian star has started every Premier League game for City this season
- United are three points behind City… a ranking can LIE. There are rifts between them – It all starts
Erling Haaland faces a race to prove he is fit to take Manchester City’s lead at the Club World Cup next week.
The Premier League’s top scorer, who smashed records during a stunning first season in England, did not travel with the champions for Saturday’s 2-1 win over Luton Town.
Haaland suffered a foot injury during the midweek defeat to Aston Villa and was barely able to walk the following day, Pep Guardiola said.
The City boss insisted the issue is not a serious one but they will monitor the 23-year-old’s progress before he heads to Saudi Arabia after Saturday’s match against Crystal Palace.
“It’s stress on the bone,” Guardiola said. ‘Just stress. Please don’t ask if his foot is broken. He wasn’t ready for this game, I don’t think he will be ready for Crystal Palace.
Erling Haaland faces a race to get fit ahead of Man City’s Club World Cup semi-final next week
Haaland did not travel with City’s squad for Sunday’s 2-1 win against Luton
Pep Guardiola instead opted to play Julian Alvarez further forward in Haaland’s absence
‘Hopefully he can be ready for Saudi Arabia. Week by week will determine how he feels.”
Star winger Jeremy Doku is also out, having missed the last two matches due to a hamstring problem.
City will not rush the Belgian for fear his playing style could worsen the problem.
“It’s not a big, big problem like Kevin (De Bruyne) was,” Guardiola added. ‘We have to think about it because of his explosiveness. We have to be careful. Maybe it’ll be ready again in a week or two.’
Your browser does not support iframes.
Despite this, Guardiola said the Norwegian had suffered stress to a bone in his foot
