Erling Haaland could be rested for Manchester City’s Carabao Cup tie with Swansea City on Wednesday night after colliding with the post in the weekend defeat by Aston Villa.
Haaland failed to score for the first time in 13 games for City and Norway after his late equaliser was ruled out for offside. And while his incident with the woodwork added injury to insult, it is not thought to be serious.
Even so, manager Pep Guardiola is likely to give the striker a rare rest when City visit the Liberty Stadium in the fourth round of the League Cup.
“Erling, I haven’t seen him today but it was a knock and day-by-day it is better,” Guardiola said on Tuesday. “Now we train this afternoon where we will find out more on how he feels and decide if he can play. This is a game where we could rest Erling.”
Rodri certainly won’t be involved, having not played since suffering a hamstring injury at Brentford prior to the October international break. His latest setback is part of a sputtering return for the Spaniard since he sustained a major knee injury 13 months ago.
“Rodri still is not (ready), he is getting better, training with us,” Guardiola said. “I don’t have an idea on when he will be available. Hopefully soon but not yet.”
City, who have won the League Cup four times under Guardiola, are expected to rotate heavily for the trip to South Wales as they continue to manage a packed fixture schedule. While they are big favourites at Swansea, who are 13th in the Championship, Guardiola said he takes no team for granted.
“It’s not my first time. I have played 10 seasons here and I’ve played many times with (League Cups), FA Cups,” said Guardiola, whose last League Cup triumph came in 2021. “Teams from lower divisions we have always taken seriously otherwise we wouldn’t have had the success we’ve had in the past so we prepare the same way. Incredible focus, sometimes even more.”
The City boss also addressed the situation of Kalvin Phillips, who has become the forgotten man at City, struggling for minutes. City’s 2-0 win over Huddersfield Town in the League Cup third round is the only game in which the midfielder has featured this season.
“For a start no, but maybe he will travel with us,” Guardiola said when asked if Phillips could feature at Swansea. “He is a player for the team, the squad. He is coming back, he trains with us, we treat him like another player. The decision of whether he plays or not belongs to me.
“He is always an unbelievable guy. It is a joy to have him in the locker room.”
additional reporting by Reuters