Liverpool fans may have noticed one significant absentee from training ground photos shared by Manchester City today.
The Reds travel to the Etihad Stadium to face the Premier League champions on Saturday as the club season resumes following the international break, with Jurgen Klopp’s side facing 12 pivotal games in their pursuit of a top-four finish.
Pep Guardiola’s side were dealt a major body blow last week when Erling Haaland was forced to pull out of the Norway squad due to a groin injury (Daily Mail), which has placed his potential involvement this weekend into doubt.
On Wednesday, Manchester City shared a gallery of training images on their official website and Twitter channel, with many of those who were away on national team duty having now returned to their club.
However, their Norwegian hotshot was nowhere to be seen, with Phil Foden also absent as he recovers from surgery on removal of his appendix, which will definitely rule him out of the Liverpool game (as per BBC Sport).
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If Haaland is unable to feature on Saturday, it’d no doubt be a massive loss to Guardiola’s team, with the 22-year-old scoring a scarcely believable 42 goals in 37 matches this season (Transfermarkt).
Eight of those came in his last two games, with an FA Cup hat-trick against Burnley following on from the extraordinary feat of scoring five in a Champions League knockout round clash against RB Leipzig.
That said, it’s worth bearing in mind that his apparent absence from training today doesn’t strictly mean he won’t be playing against Liverpool, with City potentially nursing him back carefully so as not to aggravate his groin problem.
In any event, the Reds would still need to be at their most disciplined to curtail an attack which will likely feature potent threats such as Riyad Mahrez and Julian Alvarez.
Haaland would be a major absentee on Saturday if he doesn’t recover in time, and him missing the game could make the Merseysiders’ task slightly less daunting.
However, City still have a plethora of dangerous players who can win matches on their own, and we wish the Norwegian well in his recovery from his groin injury.
You can see the full gallery of training images on City’s official website and Twitter.