Erling Haaland starts for Man City against Liverpool this afternoon, despite injury ruling him and two other starters out during the international break.
Man City saw five players pull out of international duty after being called up this month, with Haaland sustaining an ankle problem during Norway’s 2-0 win over Faroe Islands.
But despite the Norwegian being considered a doubt, he starts against Liverpool along with Ederson and Nathan Ake.
The latter pair withdrew from contention for Brazil and the Netherlands respectively, though there had long been suspicions that they were simply being spared for this clash.
Ake joins Kyle Walker, Manuel Akanji and Ruben Dias in defence, with Rodri, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden making up the midfield.
Haaland leads the line flanked by Julian Alvarez and Jeremy Doku.
Mateo Kovacic and Matheus Nunes are absent, though, having missed Croatia and Portugal duty, joining Kevin De Bruyne on the absentee list.
John Stones makes the bench following an injury concern of his own, but Pep Guardiola revealed before kickoff that the centre-back was “not ready.”
Another player surprisingly missing is Jack Grealish, with the manager explaining that he “feels unwell [with] vomit and so on.”
Without the likes of Kovacic, Nunes, Grealish and De Bruyne, Guardiola has been unable to name the full quota of nine substitutes.
Man City only have eight players in reserve including two goalkeepers – one of those 38-year-old Scott Carson – and the experienced Oscar Bobb.
Stones and Bobb are joined by Josko Gvardiol, Sergio Gomez, Kalvin Phillips and Rico Lewis as Man City‘s outfield options.
Man City: Ederson; Walker, Akanji, Dias, Ake; Rodri, B.Silva, Foden; Doku, Alvarez, Haaland
Substitutes: Ortega, Carson, Stones, Gvardiol, Gomez, Lewis, Phillips, Bobb
Liverpool: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; Mac Allister, Szoboszlai, Jones; Salah, Jota, Nunez
Substitutes: Kelleher, Konate, Quansah, Gomez, Endo, Elliott, Gravenberch, Diaz, Gakpo
Fan Comments