Erling Haaland faces a race to be fit for Manchester City’s upcoming Premier League game with Burnley after he was forced off with a back injury at the weekend.
The Norwegian came off after 76 minutes against Arsenal when he complained of pain in his back, having opened the scoring at the Emirates. Arsenal dominated proceedings however and escaped with a point as neither side made headway in the title race, drawing 1-1.
Haaland is likely to sit out City’s trip to Huddersfield Town in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday, with manager Pep Guardiola set to rotate his squad after a “demanding week”.
But Guardiola believes the striker will be fit for Burnley’s visit to the Etihad on Saturday, as City hope to recover after a hit-and-miss start to the season.
His side sit ninth in the top flight, eight points off leaders Liverpool.
Guardiola said on Tuesday: “Recovery yesterday [Monday], he didn’t train and I didn’t see him and the rest of the players yet today.
“Hopefully he can play at the weekend. It’s been such a demanding week – the last game especially – and sometimes the players have problems.
“I think he will be fine for the weekend. I hope so.”
Having already complained of fatigue this week, Guardiola’s side face a busy couple of weeks before the international break, with Huddersfield on Wednesday, Burnley on Saturday, a Champions League trip to Monaco next Wednesday and a Premier League meeting with Brentford that Sunday.
City are currently missing Mateo Kovacic, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Omar Marmoush, with the trio expected to return in October, while right-winger Rayan Cherki is expected to be out until November with a thigh issue.
Kalvin Philips is also making his return to full fitness after an Achilles injury and attempting to earn a place in the squad after spending the last season and a half on loan.
After three games with the same starting XI Guardiola confirmed he will “absolutely” rotate the squad on Wednesday, saying: “The only problem for the Carabao Cup is we respect this competition but arriving at the competition with no injuries and we have injuries.
“It will be a mix with academy players to play because the priority is Burnley, Monaco [in the Champions League] and Brentford.
“It would have been perfect for Cherki, Ait-Nouri, Omar but there are many players who can’t play because they are injured. We will try to compete and go through.”
