Manchester City have dropped a strong hint over the fitness of star striker Erling Haaland ahead of games against Arsenal and Nottingham Forest.
The Premier League champions visit the Gunners for a huge top-of-the-table clash tonight (Wednesday) before travelling to face Forest on Saturday afternoon. It will be a tight turnaround for Pep Guardiola’s side, who have a number of fitness concerns.
One of those revolves around 25-goal leading scorer Haaland, who was withdrawn at half-time during City’s 3-1 win over Aston Villa on Sunday. The Norwegian received a few knocks during the game and needed treatment following a collision with Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez.
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Guardiola was guarded over his fitness after the game, admitting he may not have taken the Norwegian off at the break had City not been 3-0 up. He was cautious again asked about Haaland in his pre-Arsenal press conference on Tuesday.
“We train this afternoon. Right now I don’t know,” he said “Yesterday [Monday] was about recovery from Aston Villa. That’s all.”
However, City raised hopes among their supporters that Haaland will be involved at the Emirates and the City Ground by posting pictures of the player in training on Tuesday on social media.
Meanwhile, Forest fans have given their thoughts on Haaland ahead of the weekend, with one joking on NottinghamshireLive’s Reds Facebook page: “Play him v Arsenal then rest him for the weekend lol, in fact rest the whole side and play your under 12s, we might grab a draw then.”
Another said: “Best not to risk him IMO.” A third added: “It doesn't matter how many Man City players will be injured, they gave us a battering the last time round so it not going to make any difference really.”
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