Guardiola Says He Might Risk Haaland Against Liverpool

The manager of Manchester City, Pep Guardiola, has hinted that he might risk featuring his top striker Erling Haaland against Liverpool on Saturday.

Haaland withdrew from his Norway national team during the March international break due to a groin injury. He sustained the injury in City’s last game before the break which was an FA Cup win over Burnley.

On Thursday, reports went viral that Haaland was not seen in training with the rest of City’s players two days before a must-win Premier League game against Liverpool.

It is believed that the 22-year-old Norwegian striker had to train alone as he tries to return to full fitness before this weekend’s game. However, it seems his fitness level has not been ascertained yet less than 24 hours into the game.

In the pre-match press conference, Pep Guardiola noted that the team’s doctors would have to reevaluate Haaland’s fitness before the game. He however noted that “Life is risks and sometimes you have to take it”.

He added, “The doctors and, especially, the player will see how he feels.”

“We have scored a lot of goals this season and he has scored an incredible amount of goals. But we’ve always scored a lot of goals since we’ve been here.”

Since Erling Haaland joined Manchester City from Borussia Dortmund last summer, the 22-year-old Norwegian striker has scored a whopping 42 goals in 37 games this season, including 28 league goals in 26 matches.

Manchester City are currently eight points below first-placed Arsenal which means that they must win every league game this season to stand a chance of overtaking the Gunners.

Their Saturday game against Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium is scheduled to kick off at 12:30 (WAT).