Haaland injury blow for City ahead of EPL clash vs Leicester

Erling Haaland will be out of action for up to seven weeks after suffering an ankle injury, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said on Tuesday.

The prolific 24-year-old Norwegian was forced off in Sunday’s 2-1 FA Cup quarter-final win at Bournemouth after scoring his 30th goal of the season.

City said on Monday that the forward would see a specialist but anticipated he “will be fit to play a further part in the remainder of this season including this summer’s FIFA Club World Cup”.

Guardiola gave an update on Tuesday, on the eve of his side’s Premier League match against struggling Leicester at the Etihad.

“The doctors told me between five and seven weeks,” he said. “So hopefully for the end of season and FIFA Club World Cup he will be ready.

“Sometimes there are years where these kinds of things happen. It’s happened all season.”

Premier League champions City have been hit hard by injuries in the current campaign, most damagingly losing Ballon d’Or winner Rodri for the bulk of the season.

Guardiola said City did not have another player with Haaland’s attributes but would have to adapt as they chase a spot in the Champions League next season.

City are currently fifth in the Premier League, which is likely to be enough to secure a place in Europe’s top club competition after strong performances from English clubs in European competition.

They have nine games left in the Premier League season plus an FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest towards the end of April.

A seven-week absence would rule Haaland out of most of the rest of the Premier League campaign.

The FA Cup final takes place on May 17, a day short of seven weeks after Haaland suffered the injury.

City’s final Premier League game is at Fulham on May 25 while their first match in the Club World Cup in the United States takes place on June 18.

Guardiola said his other players would have to adjust to playing without their predator, who has a remarkable goalscoring record since arriving in English football in 2022.

‘Predator’: “We need players with other qualities and we have to bring more players close to the box,” he said.

“Erling’s numbers again have been exceptional and he is an incredible threat for many things with long balls and his sense of goal but we have to adjust.

“We will find a solution for the players that we have with different skills and qualities. We will find that.”

Guardiola played down the challenge of qualifying for the Champions League.

“We had in the past much tougher than this one,” he said. “When you have to win 16 or 17 games to win the Premier League don’t tell me it’s not a tough one.

“In the past except the first season we were together, and one season when Liverpool were extremely strong and we could not compete with them, all the time we were there to fight for the Premier League.

“This is the first time, along with the first season I was here nine years ago, that we have to fight to qualify for the Champions League.

“We have nine games left and we know what we have to do.”

Slot banks on home support in Merseyside derby: Liverpool manager Arne Slot said he expects Wednesday’s clash with Everton at Anfield to be similar to their last meeting at Goodison Park in February but with the key difference that his players will have the backing of a home crowd.

Everton held Premier League leaders Liverpool to a 2-2 draw in a thriller to mark the last Merseyside derby at Goodison before their move to a new stadium, with nearly 40,000 in attendance.

As Liverpool close in on the league title with a 12-point lead over second-placed Arsenal, they face a stubborn Everton side who are unbeaten in the competition since January.

“They didn’t lose one football game in their last nine Premier League games, so it would be a surprise if they are going to do something different,” Slot told reporters on Tuesday.

Agencies