Manchester City have a new and very large fitness issue to sweat over, ahead of their hosting Liverpool in a top of the table match a week from today. The Premier League top scorer, Erling Haaland, has suffered a foot injury while on international duty with Norway.
The giant Nordic scoring machine suffered the injury in the friendly against the Faroe Islands, and he is now ruled out of the Euro 2024 qualifier against Scotland.
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“The injury is not serious, but he has so much pain and somewhat limited function that the Scotland game unfortunately comes a little too early,” the Norwegian national team doctor Ola Sand said via official statement.
Haaland did play through the pain, and finish the match, so there is hope that he’ll be fine for the epic clash next weekend. And for what it is worth, Norwegian national team manager Stale Solbakken said he won’t be calling anyone up to replace Haaland in the squad.
I mean, why should he when the international period is already almost over.
“It’s obviously a shame that Erling won’t be ready for the game on Sunday, but we’re not going to bring in a replacement,” Solbakken said.
“This is a great opportunity for the attacking players in the squad.”
Expect Haaland to be managed with caution during this week’s Manchester City training.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now, while writing for the International Baseball Writers Association of America. You can follow the website on Twitter.