Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola provides Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne fitness update as they take on Everton in PL fixture
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola offered an update on Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne's injuries ahead of their clash against Everton on Wednesday, December 27.
Haaland has been on the sidelines since City's 1-0 loss to Aston Villa due to a foot injury on December 7. De Bruyne, meanwhile, hasn't played for the Cityzens for nearly the entire campaign as he picked up a hamstring injury in the opening weekend.
Ahead of Manchester City's fixture against Everton at Goodison Park, Guardiola revealed that Haaland could return to action in January while De Bruyne is back in training.
The former Barcelona manager said about Haaland (via The Athletic's Sam Lee):
“Still he’s not with the team. He feels better but he hasn’t made one training session with us. Hopefully in January he can come back with us.”
He added on De Bruyne:
“Last week he trained with us, today he had a little bit of fatigue because he’s training hard.”
Prior to his injury, Haaland was in exceptional form for Manchester City both in England and in Europe. The Norwegian striker has already racked up 14 goals and four assists in 15 league appearances mid-way into the season. He has also scored five goals and provided one assist in five UEFA Champions League games this term.
"This is the business" - Pep Guardiola sends defiant message over Manchester City's form this season
Pep Guardiola has sent a message to critics amid Manchester City's poor form in the Premier League. The Spanish manager insists that people want his team to fail given the success they've amassed in recent years.
He said (via GOAL):
"This is the business. When you don't win you are nothing, zero. As much as you win they want you to fail more than ever. But what we have won, the titles, is unbelievable."
Guardiola added:
"In the moment you don't win there are going to be doubts but that is what is nice. That is okay. Doubt again. We'll see what happens. We played quite similar to the best levels we have played these past eight years. But we don't win so it's a crisis, a disaster."
Manchester City have witnessed a dip in form this term, securing just one victory in their last six league matches. The Cityzens find themselves fifth in the league standings, an unfamiliar position for a team that's won five titles in the last six years.
Additionally, this comes on the back of a magnificent treble-winning 2022-23 campaign, with City dominating both England and Europe. They won the league five points ahead of runners-up Arsenal last season despite trailing them for 248 days.