Man City boss Pep Guardiola has already dropped Erling…

Man City boss Pep Guardiola has already dropped Erling Haaland hint for Nottingham Forest

Pep Guardiola refused to rule out the possibility of resting Erling Haaland for the midweek meeting between Nottingham Forest and Manchester City in the Premier League.

The Norwegian striker, whose dad lined out for the Reds in the nineties, has been in scorching hot form for the Blues since joining from Borussia Dortmund in the summer transfer window. He has scored six goals while starting every league game for City thus far.

But Guardiola admitted earlier this month that Haaland won't play every game when City play every three games, which will be the case for the next few months as the club have Champions League commitments.

When pushed on whether or not that meant Haaland would not be starting against Forest on Wednesday, the Man City boss responded: "Tomorrow you will see".

The Premier League champions have six games in the next 18 days. Given Guardiola's penchant for rotation, it seems likely that he will rest his star striker along the way, even if he is the team's main source of goals.

City also recruited Argentina striker Julian Alvarez as backup to Haaland this summer. He is still waiting on his first Premier League start, but Guardiola confirmed that he will come into the starting lineup whenever he decides to rest Haaland.

"When Erling doesn't play, we will play Julian, almost sure," he said. "We are really impressed with him, his pace, his sense of goal and his work ethic."

Guardiola lavished Alvarez with praise, revealing that he is a "humble and positive" player. He is impressed by the forward's quality, saying: "Everyone is talking about Erling, but he is exceptional."

The Catalan also mentioned the scary possibility of Haaland getting even better than he has been for City. "There is still room to improve, to be a better player and we are working on that."

Forest travel to Eastlands on Wednesday for a 7.30pm kickoff.