Liverpool have seemingly been offered a potential boost prior to their upcoming Premier League clash against Manchester City, judging by news emerging from Norway.
The country’s football federation reported (via fotbal.no) that Erling Haaland will be ruled out of their upcoming fixtures against Spain and Georgia due to a groin problem and has duly returned to his club for treatment.
Although no specific timeframe has been mentioned other than him missing those two games for his nation, it could place his involvement in the Reds’ visit to the Etihad Stadium on 1 April into doubt.
An injury to a player is not something to celebrate, but considering how lethal the 22-year-old has been throughout the season, and particularly in recent weeks, his potential absence for Liverpool’s next game could make the task less difficult for Jurgen Klopp’s side.
Haaland’s scoring record for Man City is obscene, with 42 goals so far in just 37 matches for the club (Transfermarkt).
A whopping eight of those have come in the last week as he smashed five past RB Leipzig in the Champions League round of 16 and then plundered a hat-trick as his side eased to a 6-0 win over Burnley in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
He was also on target the last time Liverpool went to the Etihad just before Christmas in the Carabao Cup, with Pep Guardiola’s men winning 3-2 on the night to progress in the competition.
Haaland would unquestionably be a mammoth loss to City if he’s ruled out of the game against us in 11 days’ time, but it’s not as if the Premier League champions don’t have other lethal attackers of whom the Reds must be wary.
Phil Foden, Riyad Mahrez and Julian Alvarez have a combined 37 goals between them in the current campaign (Transfermarkt), so all three of those could still pose plenty of questions for our defence.
Liverpool fans may breathe a sigh of relief if the Norwegian predator is ruled out of that clash, but he’d still be a loss to a fixture of such prestige, and we wish the forward a swift return to fitness.