Manchester City fans are calling on Pep Guardiola not to risk Erling Haaland if he is not fully fit on Saturday.
City will take on Leicester in Saturday's early kick-off looking to keep up the pressure on Premier League leaders Arsenal. The Blues cut the gap at the top to two points last weekend thanks to their 3-1 defeat of Brighton and Arsenal's 1-1 draw with Southampton.
Haaland scored a brace in that game, taking his tally for the season up to a remarkable 17 goals in 11 league outings. However, the 22-year-old lasted only 45 minutes of City's midweek Champions League match with Borussia Dortmund, with Guardiola revealing that the striker had been suffering from a slight fever and a foot complaint.
READ MORE: Erling Haaland dropped as Jack Grealish returns - Man City predicted line-up vs Leicester
When speaking to the media on Friday, Guardiola was unable to provide much of an update on Haaland's fitness, explaining that he and his staff would assess the player during training on Friday afternoon.
Given the injury problems that Haaland had last season and the fact that City have been very careful not to overburden him so far this term, Guardiola will not want to start the striker unless he is fully fit. Ignoring the warning signs would risk further injury, and while a month-long break is just a few weeks away, niggling injuries would threaten Haaland's rhythm in the second half of the season.
Pep threw his support behind Julian Alvarez, saying that if Haaland cannot play then the Argentine will be his replacement. On Twitter, City fans tended to agree - if Haaland isn't fully fit then don't risk him.
@letmetalkk_: Don't think he will start then. Happy to know it's nothing serious
@LightMe345: At least its not niggles
@JamieWinchcomb: Pep playing dirty FPL tactics here to get himself up the leaderboard.
@Parrypagguire: don't need to risk him for Leicester game
@Liam_Maine_: I have a feeling he will come on for the last 20-30 minutes against Leicester and he will be off against Seville.
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