Erling Haaland looks likely to start as normal for Manchester City on Wednesday night in their title showdown with league leaders Arsenal at the Emirates.
Pep Guardiola's men have the chance to leapfrog the Gunners in to top spot with a win, though they would do so having played a game more. Mikel Arteta's side dropped points at home against Brentford on Saturday, before City closed the gap on Sunday afternoon with a 3-1 win over Aston Villa.
However, the game against Villa was not without its worrying moments and the main one was the withdrawal of talismanic forward Haaland at the half-time stage. The Norwegian was involved in a collision with Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.
After the game, Guardiola was pressed for an update on Haaland's fitness given the magnitude of City's next fixture but the City boss kept his cards close to his chest in response.
"Right now I don’t know. We will have to see over the next few days," he admitted. "He got a knock and was uncomfortable so at 3-0 up we didn’t want to take the risk. We will assess him and if he’s not ready we will play someone else. Hopefully he is ready."
Despite these comments, Haaland looks likely to feature given he was pictured in photos released by City of Monday's training session, including a picture of what was clearly Haaland’s silhouette.
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Guardiola also discussed the title race against the Gunners, praising Arteta's side while also insisting City are aiming to inflict a first home league defeat for them this season.
"Arsenal have a game in hand. We will see after all the games when the Premier League is finished.
"But we are going to London to try and get a win. When one team has made 50 points in the first leg it is because they are very good. we closed the gap today because the performance from the team was really really good."
His sentiments were echoed by City midfielder Rodri, who added: "We have the chance to go top and to go there and show our personality and the team that we are.
"They are playing at an incredible level and we have an incredible level too. It is going to be an incredible fight and an incredible battle and we have the chance to be on top of the table so that’s what we have to think."
With 25 goals in 22 league outings, Haaland has established himself as one of the most important names on City's team-sheet. It would almost certainly give Arsenal a boost were he to be ruled out on Wednesday.
