Erling Haaland has now missed two of the last three Manchester City matches as Pep Guardiola makes ten changes for the FA Cup game at Newcastle
Erling Haaland.(Image: Getty Images)
Erling Haaland was absent from the Manchester City squad for the FA Cup game at Newcastle days before the Blues take on Real Madrid in the Champions League. Haaland has now missed two of the last three matches in all competitions to give Pep Guardiola plenty to think about ahead of another return to the Bernabeu.
Haaland picked up an injury to his ankle last week in training that forced him out of the Premier League win at Leeds. He returned for the Nottingham Forest game in midweek but looked laboured in a 2-2 draw, and the decision has been taken to leave him out for the FA Cup fifth round tie at Newcastle.
While the absence could be seen as worrying, Guardiola played down concerns about his striker and said that he was always planned to rest this weekend. The focus is on Haaland training well ahead of Real Madrid on Wednesday rather than having him sit on the bench in Newcastle.
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Nico O’Reilly returns to the matchday squad after missing the win over Forest with an ankle injury picked up at Leeds, and the 20-year-old goes straight back into the starting lineup as one of a whopping 10 changes from the draw with Forest. Omar Marmoush starts up front and Savinho and Jeremy Doku make their first starts since picking up injuries in January and February respectively.
Nico Gonzalez also comes back into the team and will play alongside O’Reilly and Tijjani Reijnders in midfield. John Stones captains the team in central defence and Matheus Nunes is the only player from the Forest XI to keep their place.
Guardiola had said he would take a team to St James’ Park to book a place in the quarter-finals but is clearly thinking about the Champions League – and will have more to consider with Haaland’s absence with Marmoush stepping into the team.
“How many finals have we played in the last years and semi-finals? A lot. That means the FA Cup is so important. We’re going to travel to Newcastle to win the game to play in the next round,” he said on Friday.