Manchester City and Erling Haaland had not anticipated the striker’s prolonged period of absence this season due to injury.
Despite missing time, the Norwegian striker has scored 14 Premier League goals so far this season. However, if the prolific ace had been able to avoid the treatment table, he surely would have scored more.
Ciudadanos’ bad record and its absence have coincided. However, they bounced back to defeat Everton in their penultimate match of 2023.
Their roster depth and Julián Álvarez’s performance in Haaland’s absence make them capable of handling most situations. However, any team would be concerned about the simultaneous loss of the Norwegian and Kevin De Bruyne.
How many games has Haaland missed so far?
City have not presented an attacking threat under Haaland since their 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa in early December. Due to this month’s hectic schedule, he has missed six matches in all competitions.
Two of those matches were fortunate for them: the Club World Cup and the UEFA Champions League clash against Red Star Belgrade. Recovering from the bone stress response in his foot is taking longer than anyone associated with the club would have preferred.
The injury has kept the Norwegian striker out of the Sky Blues’ previous six games, including Wednesday’s game against Everton.
Pep Guardiola has now excluded Haaland from the league match of the last game of the calendar year, against Sheffield United. Thus, the number of games that the 23-year-old has missed so far will increase from six to seven.
When will you return to action?
The big question, according to Pep Guardiola, is when Haaland’s discomfort will disappear; he hopes to return in January.
“He is training a lot but not with the team yet. Kevin is with the team. Not Erling yet, but he feels better,” Guardiola said on the club’s official website. “It’s not about stress or a fracture, but about when the pain will go away. with a little luck [in January he will be back].
“He has stress, the bone is in shape but it hurts. he is not like [Phil] Foden, who is small and thin, Erling is huge, so it is difficult sometimes. He will be fine and when he is he will play again. The doctors come every morning and say: ‘This player is available and this one is not.’ Until then, I create the team and we play games.”
As a result, Haaland will not be available for the games against Sheffield United and, most likely, Huddersfield Town in the opening match of the FA Cup season. His availability for the January 13 match against Newcastle United is also in doubt.
City would like to maintain their position in the top four and leave some space between themselves and the mid-table clubs behind them. Therefore, this game will be essential.
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