Man City goal machine Haaland fit to play against Southampton

Manchester City star striker Erling Haaland could feature in Saturday’s Premier League game at Southampton after recovering from a groin injury, coach Pep Guardiola said on Friday.

Haaland missed out on Norway’s Euro 2024 qualifiers against Spain and Georgia last month, as well as City’s 4-1 win over Liverpool last Saturday.

Guardiola said the striker, who has scored 42 goals in 37 matches in all competitions, had recovered from the injury, telling reporters: “He trained the last two days, really good. He will be ready.”

Haaland’s return will provide a boost to City as they approach the home stretch of the campaign, with three trophies still up for grabs.

City, who are second in the league, eight points behind leaders Arsenal but with a game in hand, have also reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League and semi-finals of the FA Cup.

Their coming run of fixtures will likely define their season, but Guardiola said his players are well accustomed to the pressure.

“The last part of the season, international break, it depends on us how many games we’re going to play, Premier League for sure, Champions League, FA Cup,” Guardiola said.

“If we win, we’re still in, if we don’t we’re out… If we drop points Arsenal will be champions in advance, if we win, win, win, we might be champions at the end of the season. We are used to it, it’s not a problem.”

On Saturday, City will face bottom club Southampton for a third time this season, with Ruben Selles set to become the third different manager of the south coast club to pit his wits against Guardiola in those three games.

When asked if the managerial changes had made it hard to predict how Southampton would play, Guardiola said: “It is modern times. It was difficult to sack managers before, now it is around the corner.

“If you don’t get results you are in danger. It would be difficult to analyse Southampton if their manager was appointed yesterday, but they’ve played a few games,” the Spaniard added.

“The pattern is clear, but every team is playing for something; there is an important fight for the Premier League and to be in the Premier League. Every game has its own characteristic. We have to be ready.”