MANCHESTER CITY
Will Erling Haaland play the Premier League game against Southampton and the Champions League game against Bayern?
Pep Guardiola gave an update on Erling Haaland’s fitness after the striker suffered a groin injury.
Dear Premier League clubs: he’s back. The fun is over.
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola gave an update on Erling Haaland’s fitness ahead of the Premier League clash against bottom of the league side, Southampton. City currently sit 8 points behind leaders Arsenal yet they have a game in hand on Arteta’s side, and the fitness of their Norwegian striker will be key if they are to cut down the distance and mount a late title challenge.
Just past Southampton, on the horizon, City have a Champions League quarter-final clash against Bayern Munich to contend with (Tuesday 11 April, 3p.m. ET). The German outfit are top of the Bundesliga by two points, yet they have been embroiled in a couple of weeks of madness since they sacked manager Julian Nagelsmann and replaced him with former PSG and Chelsea boss, Thomas Tuchel. The new manager started his time at Bayern in ferocious fashion, beating Dortmund 4-2 in the league before losing 1-2 to Freiburg in the DFB-Pokal quarter-final.
Will Haaland play against Southampton? And Bayern?
The return of the monster boy is, as mentioned, key for City’s final stretch of the season, as he has scored (probably) 50,000 goals during the current campaign. In the press conference, Guardiola said that he has been “training the last two days” and that he looked “really good”, adding that “he will be ready [for Southampton]”.
Given this information, it is highly likely that the Leeds-born striker will play against Bayern Munich in the Champions League. When Pep was asked if he will feature at the weekend in order to get minutes and return to full match-fitness, Guardiola said that “Bayern is the last thought, right now it’s Southampton. The Premier League is every day, every week, so right now, [his fitness] doesn’t depend on that.”
Haaland hints at Premier League return
On Wednesday, April 5, Haaland posted on social media a phot of himself at the Manchester City training ground with the words ‘back on the pitch’, a clear sign that the striker is close to being back fit to play for City. He missed the demolition of Liverpool in the Premier League, in which World Cup winner, Julián Álvarez, scored the opener.
More Premier League
Premier League 2022/2023
| Classification | PTS | WM | TM | LM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Arsenal | 72 | 23 | 3 | 3 |
| 2Manchester City | 64 | 20 | 4 | 4 |
| 3Newcastle United | 53 | 14 | 11 | 3 |
| Upcoming matches | |
|---|---|
| Southampton - Manchester City | S-08/04 12:30 |
| Manchester City - Leicester City | S-15/04 12:30 |
| Brighton and Hove Albion - Manchester City | S-23/04 11:30 |
*Data updated to date Apr 7th, 2023