Manchester City provide update on Erling Haaland injury ahead of Newcastle clash
Kevin De Bruyne is ready to make his first start in five months
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Erling Haaland is still out but Kevin De Bruyne is ready to start for Manchester City at Newcastle on Saturday, manager Pep Guardiola has said.
Striker Haaland is still troubled by the foot injury that has sidelined him since early December.
The Premier League champions, however, are boosted by De Bruyne’s progress after the playmaker’s return from a lengthy lay-off as a second-half substitute in last weekend’s FA Cup victory over Huddersfield.
City also expect midfielder Jack Grealish to be available after illness, but defender John Stones is not yet ready to return from an ankle injury.
City manager Guardiola said at a press conference: “Jack has been sick. Hopefully today he’s back. Erling is out and John is out.”
De Bruyne said last week he expected to be on the bench at Newcastle, but asked if he could start, Guardiola said: “Yes. What I saw yesterday he looks really good and dynamic.
“The minutes he played were really good, better than the training sessions before the Huddersfield game when he was a little bit not what he is.
“But that’s normal when you come from five months of injury. He had highs and lows in the training sessions, but that is completely normal. The important thing is he is getting better.”
City are third in the standings, five points behind leaders Liverpool, but Guardiola’s side have a game in hand, and the manager still believes they can win a fourth consecutive league title.
“Right now, yeah. How many points left? 18 or 19 games... so obviously mathematically possible,” the manager said.
“Is it realistic? At the moment, it’s far away so I don’t know. I will answer this question when we are six, seven games out.”
City hit a bad patch in November, and went four league games without a win, but are now back on track and have won their last two league games after returning victorious from the Club World Cup.
“We haven’t had time mentally to recover from winning the treble. I think the Club World Cup gave us an opportunity to find a spark.” Guardiola said.
“We’ve won two titles already this season.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments