Dangerous - Guardiola comments on Haaland’s return from injury

Pep Guardiola is optimistic about Erling Haaland's return to action after the striker missed Manchester City's 2-0 defeat to Liverpool due to a knee injury. 

Haaland sustained the injury during City's 4-0 victory over Newcastle United on February 15 and subsequently missed both the Liverpool match and the Champions League defeat to Real Madrid.

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Guardiola has indicated that the injury is not serious and that Haaland has been making good progress in training.

While he was not ready to play against Liverpool, Guardiola hopes that he will be available for selection in their next match against Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday.

“Apparently it’s (the injury’s) not dangerous,” Guardiola said after the Liverpool defeat. “All the examinations dictate that it’s fine, but he didn’t feel fine.

“I have the feeling it will be soon, because yesterday we trained and made some really good movements. But he said he was not ready, and we have to respect that. Hopefully in the next games he can help us.”

Haaland's absence against Liverpool marked the first time he has missed a Premier League game for City since April 2024. 

“Yesterday after training (we made the decision to not play Haaland). He improved but he didn’t feel good,” he told Sky Sports prior to kick-off. “Hopefully (he will come back on Wednesday against Tottenham). 

“Obviously, we will miss him. During the last nine years, we played a lot of games without really important players and we survived. This season we have had a lot of injuries but we could not survive.”

Haaland’s potential return against Spurs will be a welcome boost for City as they look to bounce back from consecutive defeats in all competitions and maintain their top-four challenge.

The outgoing defending champions held on to fourth spot in the Premier League despite Sunday's loss to Liverpool. 

They trail third-placed Nottingham Forest with three points; however, Newcastle United are level on 44 points, while Bournemouth, Chelsea and Aston Villa have 43.