Manchester City is set to host Liverpool in Matchday 26 of the 2024-25 Premier League season, following a significant blow in mid-week with their Champions League elimination by Real Madrid. Ahead of the crucial clash, Pep Guardiola has raised doubts over star striker Erling Haaland’s availability.
The alarm bells went off last Saturday during City’s 4-0 victory over Newcastle United when Haaland was substituted in the 88th minute after suffering a knee injury. The Norwegian forward was left out as an unused substitute during the Champions League game in Madrid, and Guardiola was hesitant to confirm his status for the Liverpool match.
“Tomorrow we’ll know more. I don’t know yet. Hopeful? Maybe, but I can’t say for sure. We train today and tomorrow, he will test, I guess, but I don’t know,” Guardiola said in his pre-match press conference, indicating that a last-minute decision could be made.
While Omar Marmoush scored a hat-trick in City’s last Premier League game, Guardiola was quick to emphasize Haaland’s importance to the team: “It’s better to have Erling on the pitch than not. But with Erling, we are where we are right now. Everybody is responsible for both the good and the bad things for the team. With Erling, we are stronger.”
Despite not being at his best compared to previous seasons, Haaland remains one of City’s standout performers in the 2024-25 campaign. In 35 appearances across all competitions, the striker has netted 27 goals and registered 3 assists, currently sitting second on the league’s goal-scoring leaderboard.
see also
Manchester City exodus? Pep Guardiola reportedly set to offload 8 Champions League winners
Guardiola on Manchester City’s chances against Liverpool
Liverpool, with a commanding 8-point lead and just one loss in the Premier League, are the favorites going into the Sunday showdown. However, despite City’s midweek setback and several key players sidelined with injuries, Guardiola remains optimistic about his team’s chances against the league leaders.
“The Premier League is massively important for us. We’ve had some very good games. Even in the 5-1 loss to Arsenal, I thought we played really well for 60 minutes, but we’ve not been stable. But in other games, like against Newcastle, we hit a really high level,” he said.
Although City is effectively out of the title race following a series of poor results, Guardiola acknowledged that securing Champions League qualification remains the club’s main objective for the remainder of the season. “We’ll try to play well and take the points we need to stay in the hunt and qualify for next season,” he concluded.
