Manchester City will have to take Leeds United without their most prolific goalscorer and the reason for his absence has now been revealed.
There are just minutes to go until Peter Bankes blows his whistle to get Manchester City’s clash against Leeds United underway.
The stakes have not changed, with Man City requiring a victory in order to keep up with Arsenal in the race for the Premier League title.
However, Erling Haaland has not been named in Pep Guardiola’s squad, which means the visitors will need to build an attacking threat without the Norwegian’s presence.
Pep Guardiola reveals why Erling Haaland is missing from his squad
Pep Guardiola has spoken to Sky Sports ahead of Man City’s next Premier League fixture to explain Haaland’s surprising absence.
According to the manager, Haaland picked up an injury two days ago during training and is therefore not ready for Saturday evening’s game.
However, Guardiola has insisted that not having his star striker will not cause much disruption. Also, his injury is only short-term, so there is a good chance the 25-year-old will be back on Wednesday to face Nottingham Forest in another must-win match.
Guardiola has been tactical not mentioning Haaland’s injury
Managers usually announce if a player is injured during their pre-match press conference, but Guardiola opted not to share this information before he named his matchday squad.
This means Leeds have prepared for the game with the assumption that Haaland would be playing, so the Man City boss has actually made a very smart decision.
With Rayan Cherki coming in and lining up alongside Omar Marmoush and Antoine Semenyo, City still possess the ability to hurt Leeds, so he should still feel confident ahead of this one.
