Pep Guardiola offers ‘hopeful’ Erling Haaland injury update for Southampton Premier League clash

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says star striker Erling Haaland is on the mend and could return for Saturday’s clash with Southampton at St Mary’s.

The formidable Norwegian has taken the Premier League by storm this season with 28 goals in 26 games but failed to recover from a groin issue in time to play a part in City’s 4-1 win over Liverpool at the Etihad on Saturday.

Following Saturday’s win, Pep Guardiola hinted that the Blues’ talisman could return from injury next week, when the Champions travel to St Mary’s to face Southampton in the Premier League.

“Hopefully this week he will have time to be ready for Southampton and Bayern and he can help us in the way he has done all season,” said Guardiola.

“He felt a little better yesterday than the previous two days.”

City will want their star man available for Southampton so he can get minutes under his belt before a tricky period of fixtures that includes a Champions League quarter-final first leg tie against Bayern Munich and an FA Cup semi-final against Sheffield United.

Guardiola’s side will also face Leicester City and title rivals Arsenal in the Premier League after facing Southampton, with City’s players given three days off to recover before returning to training on Wednesday for their final run-in.

“The players need to rest,” added Guardiola. “I was on holiday in my hometown in Catalonia, but they were with their national teams.

“After that, if you continue in the Champions League or FA Cup, you have a lot of games. So, stay away, then we have three days to prepare for Southampton, then Bayern Munich, Leicester, Sheffield United and Arsenal.”