Erling Haaland may look indestructible but evidently he is not after sitting out the second half of Manchester City’s 0-0 draw against former club Borussia Dortmund due to both injury and illness on Tuesday night.
City secured first spot in their Champions League group by earning a point at Signal Iduna Park and while that will have pleased Pep Guardiola, he is sure to have been preoccupied with the fitness of his main man.
While City managed just fine playing without a recognised striker for much of last season, the introduction of Haaland in front of a galaxy of technical playmakers has added a devastating dimension to their side this campaign.
The Norwegian has scored 22 goals in his opening 16 games for the club, a record that includes three Premier League hat-tricks, and he has rapidly made the Etihad his playground, netting 15 times in only eight home games.
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Here’s the latest on his injury situation:
What’s been said?
When asked about Haaland’s condition after the game, Guardiola responded: “Three things. I saw him so tired. Second one, he had a little bit of influenza in his body. Like Joao [Cancelo] – Joao had a fever.
“Then the third, he had a knock in his foot. That’s why he was not able to play the second half.
“I spoke with [the medical staff] at half-time and they were a little bit concerned, but I saw him walking more or less normally [after the game]. We will see.”
Guardiola will likely provide an update on Haaland’s condition during his pre-match press conference to preview City’s game against Leicester on Friday afternoon at approximately 1.30pm.
Is Haaland’s injury record a concern?
It is unlikely that City would have had any concerns whatsoever over Haaland’s ability to score goals before buying him, given he struck 86 in 89 games for Dortmund, and 29 times in 27 matches for Red Bull Salzburg before that.
If there was one slight concern that the club may have had over the 22-year-old, it is likely to have been over his injury history, especially during his final season with Dortmund.
Haaland was limited to 24 Bundesliga appearances and missed 16 matches in all competitions in 2021-22 due to three separate muscle injuries, including a torn hip flexor which kept him out of action for a month.
— Manchester City (@ManCity) October 26, 2022
According to Transfermarkt.com, Haaland missed 28 games during his two-and-a-half-year spell at Dortmund due to injury or illness, which equated to just under a quarter (23.9 per cent) of the club’s competitive fixtures in that period.
At the end of September, Guardiola confirmed that due to his hamstring and hip problems, Haaland underwent “small surgery” in the summer which required him to miss the first week of pre-season. City also sent one of their physios, the Italian Mario Pafundi, with Haaland during the recent international break with Norway to monitor his workload.
“Erling last season struggled a lot in Dortmund, most of the year he was injured,” Guardiola said in a press conference. “He started to work with Mario, with Federico [Genovesi, a physio and osteopath at City] and other guys. Thanks to them, and of course his work ethic, he can play regularly, which last season wasn’t possible.”
So far at City, Haaland has generally been free of the niggles that disrupted his 2021-22 campaign. He has featured in all but one of City’s 17 games so far and was rested in the other, a Champions League tie with FC Copenhagen.
Haaland’s availability so far has, in part, been attributed to his lifestyle off the pitch. Haaland reportedly wears orange-tinted, blue-light glasses to shut out light emitted from screens and switches off all electronic devices hours before going to bed to ensure a solid night’s sleep.
He also relies upon a high-protein diet, which includes offal, heart and liver due to their nutritional value. While still lean, Haaland has bulked up considerably in recent years with Norway international teammate Josh King describing him as “eating like a bear” during an appearance on Ben Foster’s Cycling GK podcast last year.
What should Fantasy Premier League managers do?
Unsurprisingly given his record, Haaland is the most popular player in the history of Fantasy Premier League – his ownership is currently 84.1 per cent – and so FPL managers may be wondering what to make of Guardiola’s recent comments.
The first thing to say is: do not panic. Wait until Guardiola’s press conference on Friday before deciding your transfer moves for Gameweek 14. The absolute worst-case scenario is to offload Haaland before Guardiola has provided an update only to see him start at Leicester and rack up 20+ points yet again. Saving your moves until the end of the week when there is more information available, is always advisable, especially for an asset as prolific as Haaland.
If Guardiola rules Haaland out of action this weekend, or at least gives a very strong indication that he won’t play, that could change matters. The decision to hold or sell Haaland likely depends on when you bought him, however. Those that invested in him before the season began, have watched his price soar from £11.5m to £12.2m, which means that he will be more costly to buy back if you do get rid. That is less of a factor for more recent recruiters.
Unless Haaland is absent until after the World Cup, our advice would be to keep him. Those that want to make a change, though, have plenty of options to consider given he is the most expensive forward in the game. The obvious place to start is Harry Kane, who at £11.5m, is the second priciest forward. Kane has only failed to provide FPL returns twice in his opening 12 appearances and is second only to Haaland for points among all players.
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Darwin Nunez (£8.8m) is an intriguing option now he has seemingly shrugged off a hamstring injury that ruled him out of last weekend’s defeat to Nottingham Forest. Nunez scored in his previous Premier League appearance against West Ham and was unfortunate not add a second when he hit the post with a volley. Liverpool face Leeds, Spurs and Southampton before the World Cup.
Gabriel Jesus (£8.0m) is still the second-most popular player in the game despite his ownership dipping by over 20 per cent since Gameweek 1. The Brazilian hasn’t scored in any of his last three league matches, but faces Nottingham Forest this weekend, followed by games against Chelsea and Wolves.
Those on the lookout for a differential may want to consider Callum Wilson (£7.3m) or Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£7.9m) instead as they both have decent fixtures and an outside chance of making Gareth Southgate’s England squad. Wilson’s Newcastle play Aston Villa (h), Southampton (a) and Chelsea (h), while Calvert-Lewin and Everton take on Fulham (a), Leicester (h) and Bournemouth (a).
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