Manchester City will once again be without their leading scorer, Erling Haaland, as they prepare to face Newcastle United in the upcoming Premier League fixture this weekend. However, in a potential boost for City fans, manager Pep Guardiola revealed that Kevin De Bruyne could make his first start of the season.
Haaland, who shares the top scorer position in the Premier League with 14 goals in 15 games alongside Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, has been sidelined for the past eight games across all competitions due to a foot injury.
During a press conference on Friday, Guardiola provided an update on the squad, stating, “Jack (Grealish) has been sick, hopefully today he is back, Erling is out, and John (Stones) is out. I think that is everything.”
On a positive note, Guardiola shared encouraging news about De Bruyne. The midfielder, who suffered a hamstring injury on the first day of the season against Burnley, made his first appearance last weekend in the FA Cup win over Huddersfield as a substitute. Guardiola expressed optimism about De Bruyne starting the upcoming match against Newcastle, saying, “From what I saw yesterday, I feel really good. He was dynamic, and the minutes he played were better than the training sessions before the Huddersfield game.”
City, currently sitting in third place in the Premier League standings, five points behind leaders Liverpool with a game in hand, still holds ambitions of securing a fourth consecutive league title. Guardiola remains cautiously optimistic, stating, “Right now, yeah. How many points left? 18 or 19 games… so obviously mathematically possible. Is it realistic? At the moment, it’s far away so I don’t know. I will answer this question when we are six, seven games out.”
Reflecting on the team’s recent form, Guardiola acknowledged a challenging period in November but credited the Club World Cup for providing an opportunity to reignite their spark. He remarked, “We haven’t had time mentally to recover from winning the treble. I think the Club World Cup gave us an opportunity to find a spark. We’ve won two titles already this season.”
Newcastle, currently ninth in the table, 11 points behind City, enters the game on the back of three consecutive league defeats.
