Erling Haaland could be available for Manchester City’s match against Nottingham Forest in the Premier League as Pep Guardiola issued a more positive update on the striker.
Haaland was not in City’s squad for the 1-0 win at Leeds on Saturday after picking up an unspecified problem in training before the game. It is not thought to be a “big issue”, though, and Guardiola confirmed he is feeling “much better”.
But Guardiola said City would decide whether Haaland is fit enough to feature after training on Tuesday. “He feels much better, yesterday we didn't train. We will decide today,” Guardiola said.
City will kick off at the same time as title rivals Arsenal on Wednesday evening, when Mikel Arteta’s side will visit Brighton looking to maintain their five-point advantage.
Meanwhile, Guardiola also said City have yet to decide whether Nico O’Reilly will be available. “The same with Nico, we'll decide after training,” Guardiola added.
The 20-year-old has scored three goals on his last three starts since returning to midfield but was taken off at Elland Road in the 70th minute. Antoine Semenyo scored the winning goal in CIty’s 1-0 victory.
And Guardiola said City will have to be ready for the visit of relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest, have have lost both of their Premier League games since the appointment of Vitor Pereira.
“I remember playing [Pereira’s] Wolves last season, they outplayed us in the first half, we were incredibly lucky,” Guardiola said. “[He is a] top-class manager. They were alive against Brighton and Liverpool.
“When we played them with Sean Dyche, they have quality players like Morgan Gibbs-White and Callum Hudson-Odoi. They have top, top players and a big squad.
“They play for important things like us and this is starting to be decisive part of the season. We have two games in the Premier League before the international break. We can't drop points.”
