Pep Guardiola confirms Erling Haaland issue after absence from Man City vs Liverpool

Pep Guardiola has confirmed Erling Haaland has been sidelined by injury after the striker was not even fit enough for Manchester City's bench against Liverpool on Sunday.

Haaland was an unused substitute for Wednesday's defeat to Real Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League play-off. He picked up an issue in the hammering of Newcastle last weekend and has struggled to recover.

While he was able to take a place on the bench for the trip to the Bernabeu, Haaland was not a member of the squad which took on Liverpool on Sunday. Instead, he was forced to watch the blockbuster game from the stands at the Etihad Stadium.

And Guardiola has confirmed that a decision to leave Haaland out of the squad was made on Saturday following their final training session.

He told Sky Sports: "Yesterday after training, he improved but he didn't feel good. Obviously we miss him but during these nine years we played many times without really important players.

"We survived. This season we have had a lot of injuries at once so we could not survive but in individual games you have to do it."

In Haaland's place, Phil Foden and Omar Marmoush were selected to lead the line against Liverpool centre-backs Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate. Guardiola revealed his team selection was an attempt to find more goals, with veteran duo Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva dropped to the bench.

"They are the type of players to play this way but we need fresh, young players. Fresh legs and good energy. The game in Madrid was tough for us so today we decide to go for this," he added.

"Some of the players that do not play today are legends of this club. They brought this club another step. Try to score goals. More offensive players and less midfield players.

"Maybe it will be good. We always try to control the game through the ball but today at least to offer a threat one v one with the runners and hopefully we can find our pace and the right moments to attack.

"We know Liverpool are going to create. Always in previous seasons under Jurgen Klopp for the quality they have they have created chances. This year for our situation we do not challenge Liverpool but for many, many years they have been our rival. Arsenal was there as well but of course Liverpool have been there."

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