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Will Erling Haaland start against Southampton? Man City injury update
It's Man City's last game before the FA Cup final...
Erling Haaland might return to Manchester City’s starting XI for their Premier League clash against Southampton, Pep Guardiola has confirmed.
City’s star striker has not played since injuring his ankle during an FA Cup win at Bournemouth in March, with fears he could even miss the remainder of the season.
But after returning to training last month, Haaland was back on the bench for last Friday’s 1-0 win against Wolves, though he did not come on even as Guardiola’s side struggled to find the back of the net.
The Citizens travel to already-relegated Southampton on Saturday – on paper, one of their easiest league games of the season and their last before the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace.
And Guardiola has revealed that Haaland will feature at St. Mary’s and could even start the match.
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‘Ready, he’s fit. If he’ll start, we’ll decide tomorrow,’ the manager said of the Norwegian in his pre-match press conference.
Omar Marmoush has been City’s striker in the absence of Haaland, but the January signing has scored just twice in the last seven games.
The rest of the injury news wasn’t so great for City, with Guardiola confirming that while Oscar Bobb and Nathan Ake are back in training they are not yet fit to play, while long-term absentee Rodri remains sidelined.
Haaland, who has scored 21 Premier League goals this season, makes a timely return to help City in the FA Cup final and their quest to qualify for the Champions League.
In the race for the top-five, the Citizens are third in the table, with just seven points separating Arsenal in second and Aston Villa in seventh.
‘I think there are six or seven teams that can qualify. So, we have to make a lot of points and after, if we make three victories, we will be there,’ Guardiola added.
‘So, it’s in our hands so we don’t need to wait for anything else. This is what we have to do. Win one game, the next one and then the next one.’
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