Man City face Newcastle at St James’ Park in the Premier League on Saturday night; City boss Pep Guardiola has confirmed striker Erling Haaland will be out until the end of January; John Stones and Manuel Akanji are both out, but midfielder Kevin De Bruyne is in line to start for champions
Man City will be without Erling Haaland until the end of January, but the Premier League champions have been boosted by the news Kevin De Bruyne is fit to start at Newcastle.
Haaland has been out of action since suffering a foot injury at the start of December, with the Norway striker having missed the club’s last eight games in all competitions.
City had hoped to welcome the 23-year-old back early in the new year but the problem is proving more troublesome than expected and the player is not yet back in full training.
The expectation now is that he will be able to resume work as the club, without a game next weekend, travel to Abu Dhabi for a warm-weather training camp after Saturday’s game at Newcastle.
Guardiola said: “Yes, (he’s had) a little bit of disturbing problems in his feet. It’s fine but the doctors decided to stop for one week and maybe restart in Abu Dhabi.
“Hopefully at the end of this month, he’ll be ready. It was a little bit more than we expected in the beginning.
“It’s the bone. It needs time. With every injury, you can do whatever you want but it’s a question of time.”
Haaland scored 52 goals last season during an outstanding first campaign with City and had already netted 19 this term.
Guardiola feels his firepower has been sorely missed.
“We miss Erling a lot,” the Spaniard said. “We need him. Hopefully, he can come back and play the last four or five months without a problem.
“When you are injured at end of November, you miss a lot of games. It’s the toughest period.”
Defender Manuel Akanji is facing a spell on the sidelines in a further blow for City.
The Switzerland international was forced off early in last weekend’s FA Cup victory over Huddersfield following a heavy challenge.
He joins centre-back John Stones on the casualty list.
Guardiola said: “He will be some weeks out. It’s not a big problem but until the end of the month.
“Now we’re lucky that we don’t have games in the next 10 days after Newcastle. We’ll see how they feel in the good weather in Abu Dhabi.”
There was some good news for City, though, with Guardiola confirming key midfielder De Bruyne was now in contention to start at Newcastle after finally recovering from a long-term hamstring injury.
The Belgium international, 32, first picked up the issue in the first half of last season’s Champions League final win over Inter Milan, before re-injuring it in City’s Premier League opener with Burnley in August, lasting just 23 minutes before undergoing surgery.
De Bruyne finally made his long-awaited return as a second-half substitute in City’s 2-0 win over Sheffield United at the Etihad on December 30, while he also came off the bench in the club’s FA Cup third-round victory over Huddersfield Town last time out.
“Yes [he may start at Newcastle],” confirmed Guardiola on Friday. “From what I saw yesterday [Thursday] I feel good about it. He got some good minutes in training.
“He is getting better now, he will have a few days off after this game and can train in Abu Dhabi to be good for the next few months.”
As for Saturday night’s visit to the northeast, Guardiola warned his players not to underestimate the challenge facing them, despite Newcastle’s recent poor form and an ever-lengthening injury list.
“It always has been difficult, especially since Eddie Howe took over,” said Guardiola.
“We have faced each other many times when he was at Bournemouth and now at Newcastle. We have a good history together.”
City take on Newcastle looking to close the gap on leaders Liverpool at the top of the table, with a victory moving the champions to within two points of Jurgen Klopp’s team.
Guardiola believes his side have now recovered from an earlier blip that saw them draw three league matches in a row at the end of November and early December, with the Catalan confident the club can win a record-breaking fourth top-flight title in succession this season.
“Right now, yeah [City can retain their title],” said Guardiola. “How many points left? 18 or 19 games? We are only five points behind, it is statistically possible.
“We want to make a legacy and dynasty. Is it realistic? At the moment, it’s far away so I don’t know.
“We haven’t had time mentally to recover from winning the Treble. I think the Club World Cup gave us an opportunity to find a spark.
“We’ve won two titles already this season. Right now, Liverpool are playing unbelievable, they are back having their best moment in many years.”
Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
