Erling Haaland is fit and ready to play for Manchester City in their upcoming match against bottom-of-the-league Southampton
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has announced that Erling Haaland has recovered from his groin injury and will be available to play in their match against Southampton on Saturday.
The Norwegian striker had missed their previous game, a 4-1 victory over Liverpool, but has been back in training this week.
According to Guardiola, Haaland, who has scored an impressive 42 goals in his debut season with the club, will be fit to play at St Mary’s as the second-placed City clash with bottom-of-the-table Saints.
Erling Haaland has been training
The Catalan said: “He’s been training really good the past two days; he will be ready.”
By securing a win against Southampton on Saturday, Manchester City can extend their winning streak to seven games across all competitions. Furthermore, they could narrow the gap to the top of the league table to five points behind Arsenal, who are currently leading, as the Gunners are set to play against Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.
The champions have been performing well, scoring 17 goals in their last three matches as they strive for further success.
However, Southampton managed to beat City 2-0 at their home ground in the EFL Cup three months ago. Guardiola anticipates that they will face another difficult challenge in their upcoming match against Southampton.
“The patterns are quite clear,” he said. “Every team is playing for something: a fight for the Premier League and a fight to be in the Premier League.
“Every game has its own characteristic, and you have to be ready. Southampton have always been so tough there. The game we made it to 100 points [in 2018] they were much better than us; we’ve drawn before.
“It’s tough, and I have a feeling tomorrow won’t be an exception.”
Asked if that might benefit City that they lay their games before Arsenal, he said: “I don’t think so. When we had a title race with Liverpool, we sometimes played before, sometimes later. We have to win our games.”
