Manchester City fans will be cursing international football for years to come if it causes Erling Haaland to miss next weekend’s huge game against Liverpool.
Haaland is now considered a doubt for the visit of Jurgen Klopp’s side to the Etihad in what is a Premier League top-two clash, having picked up an ankle injury during Norway’s 2-0 win over the Faroe Islands on Thursday. The Norwegian will miss this evening’s meeting with Scotland.
Replacing Haaland at No.9 is a relatively straightforward choice for Guardiola. Julian Alvarez has been outstanding in support of the Norwegian but remains the most natural back-up and has the quality to do so.
That, however, will open up the space between the lines and many fans would like to see Phil Foden slot in there. The Stockport-born star has looked electric in that role already this season and is in hot form, scoring in three of City’s last four games.
But while Foden has been moved centrally already this campaign, to do so against Liverpool is a different matter entirely. The 23-year-old would no doubt cause problems going forward but the defensive nous in those areas is lacking.
“With the ball, he doesn’t have to improve anything,” Guardiola said of Foden in September. “Without the ball he needs to know exactly when you have a midblock or deeper, you have responsibilities completely different to playing wide.
“Phil runs a lot. He’s not lazy at all. But to read the situations, the winger is there if the ball is on the opposite side you go inside, when you’re inside it comes from right, left, front, back.
Few teams will be able to hurt City on the counter-attack more than Liverpool and much of their play in those moments will spring from central areas. Trent Alexander-Arnold spoke recently of being inspired by John Stones’ move into midfield and is doing a decent impression of the Blues star himself.
- Klopp will set his team up to take advantage of the space in behind City, much like Wolves did in their 2-1 win back in September, and will back Mohamed Salah to cause bigger problems than Pedro Neto did that day at Molineux. No one on City’s left can keep pace with the Egyptian and so cutting out the source will be key.τ
Knowing how to press Liverpool’s creator-in-chief will be as crucial as any attacking quality on Sunday and if Alvarez is to lead the line in Haaland’s absence, City’s attacking midfielder will have to get it right. Foden should start at the Etihad and might well be the key going forward, but Guardiola is yet to fully trust him out of possession and the central role needs trust
