Major absentees from Manchester City training photos as Liverpool preparations begin

Erling Haaland was not pictured in new training photos released by Manchester City, as the Norwegian fights to be fit for Saturday’s crunch Premier League meeting with Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium.

Manchester City resume their bid to win a third successive Premier League title this weekend, as the Blues seek to overturn an eight point gap to current league leaders Arsenal – who have played one game more than Pep Guardiola’s side.

Liverpool face the league’s top two across the next week, with the Merseyside club travelling to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon before facing the Gunners at Anfield next Sunday.

City beat Jurgen Klopp’s side 3-2 in the Carabao Cup in November, with Erling Haaland opening the scoring in East Manchester.

The 22 year-old, who scored consecutive hat-tricks prior to the international break, is however at risk of missing this weekend’s clash due to injury, after a groin problem forced the striker to withdraw from the Norway squad.

Haaland was one of several City players not spotted in new images released of first-team training on Wednesday evening by the club, as Pep Guardiola’s side returned to the City Football Academy to begin preparations for the weekend.

Another notable absentee from training was Phil Foden, who will miss Saturday’s match against Liverpool after undergoing surgery for appendicitis on Sunday.

The Englishman missed England’s 2-0 win over Ukraine at Wembley Stadium at the weekend and could miss a series of upcoming crucial matches for City, as a Champions League quarter-final clash with Bayern Munich looms.

Kevin De Bruyne also wasn’t spotted, however the midfielder featured for Belgium in a friendly against Germany on Tuesday evening, where the 31 year-old registered two assists and scored for his nation.

Some of the players captured by Manchester City to be involved in Wednesday’s training session include John Stones, Stefan Ortega, Ruben Dias, Jack Grealish, Kyle Walker, Kalvin Phillips, Riyad Mahrez and Nathan Ake.

Rodri and Aymeric Laporte, who were both in the Spain squad for their surprise loss to Scotland on Tuesday evening, also weren’t pictured.

Likewise, World Cup winner Julian Alvarez, who was on the bench for Argentina’s recent friendly against Curaçao.