The striker sustained a foot injury last week, missing their midweek Champions League victory over Red Star Belgrade as well as last week’s Premier League victory over Luton. On Saturday at 3 p.m., Man City hosts Crystal Palace at the Etihad Stadium; however, Haaland is probably not going to play.
Guardiola also voiced uncertainty over Haaland’s availability for the team’s forthcoming Club World Cup games. On December 19, the team will depart for Saudi Arabia for their semifinal match. On Tuesday, after the previous round of matches is over, their opponents will be announced.
On December 22, they will compete in either the championship game or the third-place play-off. Guardiola stated: “Hopefully he can travel to Saudi [for the Club World Cup], whether he can play the first game or the second, I don’t know,””It’s just stress, not a fracture,” he continued. Players occasionally heal quickly, others take longer. We witness his feelings week by week, day by day. He will play as soon as he is pain-free.”
Before the match this weekend, Guardiola stated that Haaland’s health would be evaluated by club physicians on Friday afternoon. However, Manchester City has demonstrated that there is no lack of young players who could fill Haaland’s shoes. Micah Hamilton and Oscar Bobb, both 20 years old, scored goals for Manchester City in their victory over Red Star Belgrade.
Guardiola remarked, “It has always been a tough game.” “How they defend is brilliant and they don’t need much at set-pieces with (Joachim) Anderson and the other guys.”Easy games against Roy Hodgson teams are not in my memory. Alongside Patrick (Vieira), but particularly with Roy.”In response to the question of whether he could see himself as a manager at Hodgson’s 76 years old, he responded, “I don’t think so, but you never know!”
He continued: “To have the fire and passion inside to still be there and the team is really good. “They performed brilliantly against Liverpool; sadly, one of their players was sent off. It is nearly impossible to win 10 games against 11, but I’m not sure what would have happened in 11 games.”