Pep Guardiola has explained why he has decided to start Erling Haaland in Manchester City's Premier League fixture against Brentford on Saturday.
City take on the London side in their final league game before Christmas, with the Premier League set to pause for six weeks while the World Cup takes place in Qatar.
Heading into the weekend there had been much speculation about who Guardiola would select in his starting XI, particularly when it came to Haaland. The striker - who has scored 18 goals in 12 league outings this season - has suffered with a foot issue over the last few weeks.
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The Norwegian is not going to the World Cup so will have plenty of time for rest and recuperation, but Guardiola still would not have started him had thought there was a serious risk of aggravating the injury.
Guardiola has gone strong elsewhere on the field too; after all, today's game represents another opportunity to keep the pressure up on league leaders Arsenal. Should the Gunners fail to win this evening then City could spend Christmas top of the tree.
Speaking to BT Sport ahead of the game, Guardiola explained that there are many factors that go into his team selection, but that the way Brentford defend has played a role in his decision-making.
"They [Brentford] make high pressing, normally man-to-man in our build-up. When you are able to break this pressure they defend so deep, so well, closing the space inside, they allow you to go outside, and from there you have to make good runners.
"The way they defend, we decide for the players [sic] more runners in the box, that play more passes. Because Phil [Foden], Gundogan are really good in this process, Kevin [De Bruyne] as well. We need Erling [Haaland] in this process just in case they defend so deep. So this is why we select these type of players for they way they defend."
City's starting XI in full : Ederson, Stones, Akanji, Laporte, Cancelo, Rodri, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Bernardo, Haaland, Foden.
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