Erling Haaland missed Man City’s trip to Luton with injury (Photo: Getty)
Pep Gaurdiola has ruled the injured Erling Haaland out of Manchester City’s next two games but says he could recover in time for the Club World Cup.
Haaland surprisingly missed the trip to Luton Town on Sunday, with Guardiola saying ahead of kick-off that the prolific striker had picked up a foot injury.
City struggled in his absence, coming from behind to beat the Hatters 2-1 a Kenilworth Road, a result that ended their four game win-less run and leaves them fourth in the table, four points behind leaders Liverpool.
Immediately after the match, Guardiola was pressed for more information about the fitness of his Norwegian superstar, and told MOTD: ‘We don’t know. It’s his foot, we’ll see.
‘Day by day, week by week. Hopefully we can recover him for the [Club] World Cup.’
City travel to Red Star Belgrade on Wednesday evening in a dead rubber Champions League match before hosting struggling Crystal Palace on Saturday in their final Premier League game before jetting off to the Club World Cup.
The Citizens enter the competition, which is being held in Saudi Arabia, at the semi-final stage with that clash taking place on 19th December, followed by either the final or the third-place playoff on the 22nd.
And addressing Haaland again in his post-match press conference, Guardiola seemed hopeful that the 23-year-old would feature in the competition.
‘Stress [on the] bone. Stress. Just stress,’ the manager said.
‘Please don’t ask that his foot is broken. It’s just stress bone. He was not ready for this game, I don’t think he will be ready for Crystal Palace.
‘Hopefully he can be ready for Saudi Arabia. Week-by-week will dictate how he feels.’
‘I think this is one game when we would’ve been desperate for Erling Haaland, opposition going man-for-man,’ Jack Grealish, City’s match winner against Luton, told Sky Sports.
‘Erling’s brilliant up front and I don’t think a lot of teams in the world can leave any defender one-v-one because he’s so strong, his pace…’
