Pep Guardiola admits he is not sure when Erling Haaland will return from injury after the Manchester City striker missed his team’s win over Leeds on Saturday.Haaland was a surprise absentee from the City team to play at Elland Road. with Antoine Semenyo replacing him as the central striker in the starting line-up and scoring the winning goal.
Guardiola admitted before the game that Haaland picked up an issue in training on Thursday and described it as a “little injury”.
But after the game, the City boss could not given an answer on when Haaland will be back fit.Asked how he felt about winning in Leeds without Haaland, Guardiola replied: “I wish he’d come back!”
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from Leeds United’s match against Manchester City in the Premier League.
And then asked when he will be back, Guardiola replied: “I don’t know.”
Haaland’s injury comes amid a busy time for Guardiola’s City – with four matches in three different competitions happening over the next fortnight.
City host Nottingham Forest in their next Premier League game on Wednesday night, before visiting Newcastle in the FA Cup next Saturday.City then make it three straight away games when they play Real Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League last 16 on March 11, then having another away game at West Ham three days later.Guardiola revealed he is frustrated about the FA Cup fifth round game at Newcastle being given a 8pm kick-off time – which the City boss claims is giving his team less time to prepare to play Real.”We have three days until Nottingham Forest]”, said Guardiola. “And then after in the FA Cup, thank you so much for letting us play at 8pm instead of 3pm so we have less recover to play Real Madrid,” said Guardiola.”So again thank you so much. This is what you have to live [with], but you have to deal with that.”Pep: Champions League qualification is our priorityCity are challenging on all four fronts as we prepare to enter March – with victory over Leeds taking the club two points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal.However, Mikel Arteta’s Gunners can extend the lead back to five points if they beat Chelsea on…
2026-02-28 20:08:00
