Manchester City were set to host Liverpool for Matchday 26 of the 2024-25 Premier League season. While the match promised to be an exciting showdown, questions arose regarding the absence of star striker Erling Haaland from the home side.
Haaland will miss the game against Liverpool after failing to recover from the knee injury he sustained last week against Newcastle United, which forced him to be substituted during the match.
Haaland’s availability had already been uncertain midweek when he was an unused substitute in Manchester City’s UEFA Champions League clash with Real Madrid. Looking ahead to the Liverpool match, manager Pep Guardiola revealed that Haaland’s participation would be a last-minute decision, as the Norwegian would undergo a fitness test on his knee during training.
Ahead of the game, Guardiola provided an update on Haaland’s fitness, revealing the disappointing news about the striker’s condition. “Haaland has improved but didn’t feel good… and yesterday we decided to avoid any risk,” the Spanish coach told Sky Sports.
With 19 goals in 25 Premier League appearances, Haaland’s absence represents a significant blow to City. “Obviously we’ll miss him, but during these nine years, we played many seasons without really, really important players and survived. This season we had a lot of injuries but could not survive, but in specific games we had to do it,” Guardiola admitted about his absence in the team.
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Omar Marmoush: Haaland’s replacement
With Haaland unavailable, Manchester City’s new signing, Omar Marmoush, will step into the central role up front. The Egyptian forward joined from Eintracht Frankfurt for €75M, having impressed with 26 appearances, 20 goals, and 14 assists in the current season.
Marmoush showed his quality in the Premier League against Newcastle, where he scored a hat-trick in just his third league game for City. Against Liverpool, he will aim to replicate that strong performance.
