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Man City Four Key Players Set to Miss Clash with Liverpool, Pep Guardiola has admitted

Published

15 hours ago

February 22, 2025

KELVIN

Pep Guardiola has conceded that Erling Haaland’s fitness for Manchester City’s game against Liverpool is uncertain.

The Reds travel to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, hoping to take another step closer to the Premier League crown. They are now eight points ahead, but that deficit may be reduced to five if Arsenal wins against West Ham United.

City, the current champions, have endured a woeful season. They crashed out of the Champions League earlier this week at the hands of Real Madrid and now must battle to qualify for Europe’s elite club competition next season. City currently sit fourth in the table.

For the 3-1 loss to Madrid in the Champions League knockout play-off second leg, Haaland was an unused substitute. He sustained a knee issue in a 4-0 thrashing of Newcastle United last week. And Haaland, who has scored 23 goals this season, will require a fitness test on the eve of the game to see if he can feature. Boss Guardiola said: “Don’t know yet. Tomorrow we will know. It’s better to have Erling on the pitch. Everybody is responsible for the good things and bad things for the team but obviously with Erling we are better.”

John Stones will definitely be absent for Guardiola’s troops. The defender was forced off in the early stages against Madrid and City are now weighing up surgery. “He is injured – a difficult one,” added Guardiola. “In the next days we will know if he needs surgery or not. It’s the front, his thigh.”

Meanwhile, City’s midfield maestro Rodri is out of action due to an ACL injury. Furthermore, versatile defender Manuel Akanji will miss the rest of the season due to an adductor injury that necessitated surgery. Oscar Bobb has not played for City this season due to a foot injury.

Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo, who has 16 goals in all competitions this season, has missed the past two games due to an injury. Head coach Arne Slot has stated that Gakpo is doubtful for the match against City.

The visitors will definitely be without Conor Bradley, who suffered a hamstring injury in the 2-2 draw at Aston Villa earlier this week. The right-back has also been ruled out of Wednesday’s encounter against Newcastle United. It means Liverpool are slightly short of defenders, with Joe Gomez having an operation for a recurrence of a hamstring issue. Tyler Morton is unavailable after he had shoulder surgery.

Slot said at his pre-match press conference: . “I hope [Gakpo’s available], I’m not 100 per cent sure. He hasn’t trained with the team yet. Maybe he does a bit today. I don’t know exactly. It will be a close call.

“No, he [Bradley] still has to come in, so we don’t know yet. I would be completely surprised if he’s involved in the Sunday game, or the Wednesday game against Newcastle. You can assume that’s not going to happen. Joe Gomez had surgery for his hamstring injury, so he’s out for a long time. He will be back maybe just before the end of the season.”