Manchester City face a wait to determine if Erling Haaland will be fit to face Liverpool after the striker pulled out of his national team camp.
Haaland joined up with the Norway squad but had felt discomfort in his groin after the 6-0 win over Burnley on Saturday and could not shake it. Further tests prompted the decision to send him home rather than risk him for matches with Spain and Georgia in the next fortnight, with head coach Stale Solbakken saying the player was "deeply frustrated" after the injury got worse rather than better.
While the issue was deemed significant enough to have to sit out the two internationals, Haaland could still be fit to line up for Pep Guardiola's side against Liverpool a week on Saturday. City do not believe the injury to be serious, and indeed the player would not have joined up with the national team in the first place if he had been considerably bothered by it.
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City plan further tests to determine the full extent, but have been encouraged by the fact that Haaland has withdrawn as a precaution rather than played on with the injury and exacerbated it. If he cannot be ruled in for Liverpool yet, he definitely hasn't been ruled out.
The forward has only missed two matches this season with injury, after picking up a foot problem in a Champions League game in Dortmund in October. City will kick off against Liverpool eight points behind leaders Arsenal after the North London club won their league game while City were in FA Cup action.
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