Whether Erling Haaland would be available for the crucial Premier League match against Arsenal remained unclear to Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola on Tuesday.
At halfway of City’s 3-1 victory over Aston Villa on Sunday, the striker was taken off due to what Guardiola at the time called a “knock.”
Guardiola was unable to predict if Haaland, the league’s leading scorer with 25 goals, would be fit enough to play at Emirates Stadium on Wednesday in a meeting between the top two. Haaland took part in a rehabilitation session on Monday.
Guardiola remarked, “Right now, I don’t know.
The teams are separated by three points, and even though Arsenal has a game in hand, a win for City would put them ahead of Arsenal on goal differential.
Guardiola attempted to minimize its significance by calling it “significant,” despite the fact that City, the defending champion, still has 15 games left to play.
Guardiola stated, “I feel like a lot of things are still going to happen. “The FA Cup and Champions League are knockout competitions, and we’ll attempt to be there for the final 8–10 Premier League games. This is the objective.
“I’d think tomorrow will help us be there in those 8-10 games,” said the player.
Even though the match was played at Etihad Stadium and the visitors started with a slightly depleted team, City defeated Arsenal 1-0 in the FA Cup last month.
Since joining City in 2016, Guardiola believes this is the strongest Arsenal team he has played.
The Premier League’s best side thus far, according to him; they had an outstanding first half of the season.
“We noticed how focused and committed (Arsenal was) a few weeks ago when we played the FA Cup here…. There will be a fierce contest throughout the board.
Guardiola apologized to Steven Gerrard for his “unnecessary and dumb” remarks against the legendary Liverpool player last week at his pre-game press conference before accepting any questions.
Guardiola brought up Gerrard’s infamous slip during Liverpool’s 2-0 loss to Chelsea in one of the final games of the 2013–14 season when launching a bold defense of City in response to claims by the Premier League that the club violated a number of financial standards from 2009–18.
City won the league that season with the aid of Liverpool’s defeat.
Guardiola remarked on Friday, “I don’t know if we are to blame for Steven Gerrard sliding. You are aware of what happened at Anfield? Steven Gerrard deserves better, so I didn’t want it. However, is it our fault?
Guardiola stated on Tuesday that he was “ashamed” of himself and that he admired Gerrard.
He declared, “He doesn’t deserve it.” “I didn’t represent my club well by using his name in these idiotic remarks,” the speaker said.
