• Coach Guardiola is hopeful his star forward will be fit for Fulham clash today
Pep Guardiola has revealed Erling Haaland is feeling “much better” as the Manchester City striker targets a return to action in today’s Premier League clash with Fulham. Haaland has missed City’s past two games against Sevilla and Leicester due to a combination of a foot injury and illness.
The prolific Norwegian resumed full training on Thursday and City boss Guardiola is hopeful his star forward will be fit for this weekend’s match at the Etihad Stadium. Haaland’s presence would be a big boost for the champions after he scored 22 goals in his first 15 competitive appearances following his close-season signing from Borussia Dortmund.
“He’s much better. We will decide today (Friday),” Guardiola told reporters. “It is a good step, a start to training, but now we have another training (session) this afternoon and will see.”
Guardiola, whose side are two points behind leaders Arsenal, has raised eyebrows by naming England playmaker Phil Foden among City’s substitutes for the past two Premier League games. But the City boss said it was no criticism of Foden’s form – he was simply rotating his squad to keep everyone fresh during a hectic period. “Riyad (Mahrez) has been on bench, Jack Grealish on the bench, Bernardo Silva, (Ilkay) Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne on the bench. It is not an issue,” Guardiola said. “We have many players and we have to use them. I demand the best and want the best of them. This is going to happen in the future. It has always been like that. In Dortmund we played to qualify first, and Kevin De Bruyne didn’t play one minute. It happens.”
Arsenal face acid test at Chelsea, Spurs take aim at Liverpool
Tomorrow, Arsenal face a stiff test of their Premier League title credentials when they travel to Chelsea, while Liverpool desperately need to win at Tottenham to claw back ground on the top four. With just two league games left before a mid-season shutdown for the World Cup, Arsenal are surprise leaders, two points ahead of defending champions Manchester City.
Chelsea are 10 points off the top after a three-game winless run in the league and cannot afford to drop more points if they are to have any hope of challenging for the title. Graham Potter suffered his first defeat as Chelsea boss in a 4-1 humbling on his return to Brighton last weekend.
There was relief for Arsenal and England when it was revealed that Bukayo Saka has shrugged off an ankle injury he suffered in a 5-0 win over Nottingham Forest last weekend, which sparked fears for his World Cup chances. But Chelsea will be without left-back Ben Chilwell, who pulled up late in Wednesday’s match with a hamstring injury that will almost certainly rule him out of the tournament in Qatar.
In keeping with their season so far, Tottenham needed a second-half fightback against Marseille to book their place in the Champions League last 16 on Tuesday. However, the 2-1 win came at a high cost for Antonio Conte’s men, with Son Heung-min suffering a fracture around his left eye – the club confirmed he needed surgery and the South Korean’s World Cup hopes are in the balance.
Tottenham are already without the injured Dejan Kulusevski and Richarlison, placing a heavy burden on Harry Kane to keep firing up front. Defeats to Nottingham Forest and Leeds in their past two league games have realistically ended Liverpool’s title ambitions, with Jurgen Klopp admitting the Reds are already running out of time just to make the top four. Liverpool are eight points off the Champions League places, down in ninth. But Klopp has reason for renewed hope following a 2-0 win over Napoli in midweek, with Darwin Nunez starting to deliver on his huge price tag and Mohamed Salah finding his scoring form.
Fixtures (all times GMT)
Today: Leeds v Bournemouth, Manchester City v Fulham, Nottingham Forest v Brentford, Wolves v Brighton, (all 1500), Everton v Leicester (1730)
Tomorrow: Chelsea v Arsenal (1200), Aston Villa v Manchester United, Southampton v Newcastle, West Ham v Crystal Palace (all 1400), Tottenham v Liverpool (1630)