Guardiola confirms stars' return for Southampton

Guardiola confirms stars' return for Southampton

Ayoola Kelechi 23:58 - 07.04.2023

Pep Guardiola has said that Haaland is expected to return against Southampton

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has declared star forward Erling Haaland fit and ready to return to action against Southampton in the Premier League after a short period out with a groin injury. 

Guardiola expects Haaland to be in the squad to face Southampton

The forward suffered a groin injury against Burnley in the FA Cup win after scoring a hat-trick in the game. 

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Haaland missed Manchester City’s 4-1 thrashing of Liverpool after also missing the internal break matches with Norway for the same reason, but his time on the sidelines could be over according to his manager Guardiola. 

Speaking ahead of Manchester City’s match against Southampton, Guardiola has soothed the Cityzens’ fans' worries about Haaland, saying he believed the Norwegian was ready to return to first-team action. 

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“He trained the last two days really good,” Guardiola said, before confirming, “he will be ready,” 

Haaland key to Guardiola’s immediate plans

Haaland has scored 42 goals in all competitions this season and is on the verge of a number of Premier League records and a game against bottom-of-the-table Southampton could be another chance for the Norwegian to add another goal glut to his impressive list of hauls this season already. 

With Manchester City set to play Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal first leg during the week, Haaland’s return to fitness has shed a positive light on the fixture for the CItyzens, but Guardiola refuses to be drawn on such plans, noting that he was only thinking about Southampton at the moment. 

“Bayern is our last thoughts. It's Southampton - the Premier League is every day, every week. Depends on that.”

The Saints have had a troubling Premier League campaign and are already on their third manager of the 2022/23 season. 

They are currently bottom of the league with only 23 points from 29 matches and have not won a Premier League match since they beat 19th-placed Leicester City at the start of March. 

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