Pep Guardiola remains coy on Erling Haaland fitness ahead of Arsenal showdown

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has remained tight-lipped on the fitness of his star striker on the eve of their trip to face Arsenal this week.

Erling Haaland was replaced at half-time of Manchester City’s most recent victory, after taking a blow to his thigh in the first-half of the club’s eventual 3-1 win over Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.

Ruben Dias was also replaced alongside Haaland, after the Portugal defender picked up a yellow card in the first-half and City coaching staff deemed it too much of a risk to put him out for the second period of play after receiving the caution.

However, with Manchester City travelling to face Arsenal for the first time this season in the Premier League, there has been plenty of interest from supporters as to whether Erling Haaland would be fully-match fit in time to face Mikel Arteta’s side at the Emirates.

Speaking during his pre-match press conference on Tuesday afternoon, the Catalan coach was asked to provide an update on the fitness of the Norwegian forward, after Erling Haaland was photographed in training on Monday.

Pep Guardiola explained, “We train this afternoon. Right now, I don’t know. Yesterday was about recovery from Aston Villa. That’s all.”

Manchester City’s star forward reached a total of 35 goal contributions for the season on Sunday afternoon, courtesy of his well-worked assist to find Ilkay Gundogan for the team’s second goal of the game against Unai Emery’s side.

Erling Haaland has now scored a total of 31 goals and provided four assists in a truly sensational start to his Manchester City career, after joining the club last summer from Borussia Dortmund.

City know that a win against Arsenal on Wednesday night would take them to the top of the Premier League table, although the Gunners do still have a game in hand over their nearest title challengers.