Erling Haaland has handed a Manchester City a major injury boost after he returned to training on Wednesday.
The Premier League’s top goalscorer this season suffered a minor groin injury ahead of Norway’s Euro 2024 qualifiers against Spain and Georgia and pulled out of Stolle Solbakken’s squad.
Haaland was unable to train at the backend of last week and wasn’t risked by Pep Guardiola against Liverpool.
Explaining his absence against the Reds, the City manager said: ‘He is much much better but not fully fit for today. He didn’t feel good, we spoke and said no risk.’
In his absence, City produced arguably their most complete performance of the campaign to date, romping to a 4-1 victory in which both Jack Grealish and Julian Alvarez earned significant plaudits.
Still, Guardiola will no doubt be relieved to see the 22-year-old back in contention to feature on Saturday against Southampton when the champions will have the chance to reduce the gap to leaders Arsenal to five points ahead of their trip to Anfield on Sunday.
The Gunners haven’t won in the red half of Merseyside for 11 years, when Mikel Arteta was still playing in their midfield, and Liverpool’s Andy Robertson is confident his side are still a match for anyone despite their own patchy form.
He said: ‘Every game you play for this club is big but obviously it’s better when you’re challenging for trophies and trying to win cups.
‘But every game is important. Wherever we’ve gone, our away ends are full and they’ve followed us all season and we’ll keep fighting until the end.
‘Whether it’s enough or not (to get top four), time will tell and if we do that and get as many points as we can with 10 games left, let’s see where we finish.
‘Then we can re-evaluate in the summer and look at what we have to do differently but we’ll keep fighting.
‘Today was tough. Both teams needed a win to be honest and now we need to look to Sunday.
‘We’re playing against a confident, high-flying team that’s top of the league and have dreams of their own but we know that at our best, we’re a match for any team so let’s see how it goes.’
MORE : Man City manager Pep Guardiola explains Erling Haaland absence against Liverpool
MORE : Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola issues Erling Haaland injury update
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