Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has revealed that he is not expecting Erling Haaland to feature against Crystal Palace this weekend. The striker has been ruled out for the last two matches with a bone stress reaction in his future, and the issue is still being monitored.
Haaland has not featured for City since his side tasted defeat against Aston Villa on December 6, with a date still not planned for his return. Guardiola is therefore expecting to be without the ex-Borussia Dortmund star when his side host Crystal Palace on Saturday as they look to close the gap on league-leaders Arsenal.
Asked about Haaland’s condition, Guardiola said: “(He) arrived today, we see the doctors and we will see. He’s had treatment [away.] Hopefully he can travel to Saudi, tomorrow after the game, we see if he plays the first game or second. I don’t think so [play vs Palace], maybe he surprises me.”
Guardiola was then pushed about whether he was truly concerned about the injury, to which he replied: “No. Not fractured, just stress. Sometimes players recover quickly, longer. Day by day, week by week, how he feels. The moment he doesn’t have pain he will play.”
