Manchester City got the worst news possible as Erling Haaland was not included in their squad to face Liverpool in the Premier League.
Pep Guardiola has confirmed that Erling Haaland again asked not to play due to his knee injury as he missed Manchester City’s Premier League showdown with Liverpool on Sunday.
Haaland couldn’t shake off the knee problem picked up at the end of last week’s win over Newcastle that kept him out of the Champions League defeat to Real Madrid in the week.
Sunday’s fixture with Liverpool was the first Premier League game he has missed all season, while Ruben Dias was named on the bench after John Stones’ injury had been confirmed in Madrid. With Manu Akanji also out, that meant an inexperienced back line of Rico Lewis, Abdukodir Khusanov, Nathan Ake and Josko Gvardiol.
Guardiola said Haaland trained on Saturday but reported that he did not feel good enough to play. He told Sky Sports: “Yesterday after training [we decided]. He improved but he didn’t feel good. During these nine years we played many seasons without really important players and we survived.
“This season, we have had a lot of injuries and we could not survive, but in specific games we have to do it.”
Guardiola’s attack-heavy side – with Jeremy Doku, Savinho Phil Foden, Kevin De Bruyne and Omar Marmoush all in the team – also means a change in City’s usual approach as Guardiola admitted that he will look for pace and one-on-one duels over patience and control.
“We try to score goals with more offensive players, less midfield players. I don’t know if it’s good because always we try to control the game through the ball but at least to try to make a threat for players that are one-against-one and runners.
“Hopefully we can find our pace, in the right moments, to attack them and create problems because we know Liverpool is going to create chances.”