Is Erling Haaland Playing Tonight for Crystal Palace vs Manchester City?

It’s the business end of the season and no game is an easy encounter. This is particularly true for Manchester City who are behind Liverpool and Arsenal, in their quest for a fourth consecutive league title. However, the trip to Selhurst Park could get unnecessarily harder for Pep Guardiola & Co as there are question marks regarding the availability of a number of key stars. One of them includes the leading goalscorer in the league, Erling Haaland!

Erling Haaland is fit and ready to face Crystal Palace. The star was even seen in training yesterday. However, whether or not he actually plays depends on manager Pep Guardiola. Previously, the Norwegian striker was not in the starting XI against Aston Villa. He was replaced by Julian Alvarez and there were concerns about a potential injury. However, per Guardiola, it was a case of resting his #9 amidst the brutal schedule.

The Premier League champions have played a lot of matches recently and Erling Haaland has led his side from the front. Moreover, the Sky Blues have a crucial UCL encounter against Real Madrid up next. Hence, it is possible that Guardiola could be saving the goal machine for Los Blancos.

Also, ahead of the Crystal Palace match, Guardiola hinted at a lot of rotation. “I don’t know yet. [We are] playing at 12:30 and played just two days ago, I have to think“, quoted the manager regarding his playing XI for the tie.

With Erling Haaland having suffered injuries this season, Guardiola’s stance to potentially rest him makes sense. Notably, Haaland might not be the only player to be rested against Crystal Palace.

Besides Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne could also be rested against Crystal Palace

Erling Haaland was not the only superstar to be benched in the Aston Villa tie. Belgian midfielder Kevin De Bruyne also watched from the sidelines as the Citizens eased to a 4-1 victory. KDB too has suffered from injuries this season and missed nearly 5 months of action at the start of the season due to a groin issue. However, unlike Haaland, KDB’s situation is slightly different.

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Against Aston Villa, Phil Foden featured in the advanced midfield role ahead of KDB. The Englishman notched up a stunning performance as recorded a hattrick in 70 minutes. This was a performance alike KDB at his peak. Hence, there is a case that Foden could deserve to start over the Belgian magician in current form. Other injury absentees for Manchester City include Nathan Ake (Calf), Kyle Walker (thigh), and Ederson Moraes (thigh).

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