Author: Barkha Roy
Manchester City’s star striker Erling Haaland is expected to return to action for his team in the upcoming matches against Southampton and Bayern Munich. After suffering a knock in the match against Burnley on March 18, Haaland had to miss his country’s participation in the Euro 2024 qualification process and was also left out of City’s last win over Liverpool. However, after training well during the week, the Norwegian striker was given the green light to return to the pitch by coach Pep Guardiola.
Guardiola confirmed Haaland’s return to the squad at his pre-match press conference against Southampton, saying that he had trained well and would be ready to play. The coach also emphasized that his focus is on the game against Southampton and not on the next match against Bayern Munich.
Haaland’s return will be a big boost for City, as he is the Premier League’s top scorer with 28 goals and has scored nine goals in his last three games in all competitions. However, City still have a difficult task ahead of them in their quest to defend the English Premier League title, as they are currently eight points behind league leaders Arsenal.
In their previous meeting, Southampton managed to knock City out of the League Cup, and Guardiola expects another challenging game this time around. The manager acknowledged that City had struggled on previous trips to St Mary’s, winning just twice in their last five visits.
Guardiola’s focus on the game against Southampton underlines his determination to close the gap on Arsenal and keep City’s title hopes alive. With Haaland back in the side, City will be hoping to come away with all three points from their trip to Southampton and gain momentum going into the crucial Champions League clash against Bayern Munich.