Erling Haaland starts as Man City hit by illness and surprise return for Liverpool
Erling Haaland starts for Manchester City against Liverpool - with John Stones returning to Pep Guardiola’s matchday squad for the game.
Speaking ahead on Friday afternoon, Guardiola said he was hopeful Erling Haaland would be fit to play but claimed the striker's ankle injury had been causing him some discomfort in training.
However, Haaland has been deemed fit enough to lead the line for City against Jurgen Klopp’s side. But there is no Jack Grealish in Pep Guardiola's matchday squad as he misses out due to illness.
LIVE UPDATES: Manchester City vs Liverpool match coverage, goals and score
Liverpool private response to Man City 115 charges can't hide truth about FFP impact on rivalry
The City manager had seen four players withdraw from international duty, with Nathan Ake, Ederson, Mateo Kovacic and Matheus Nunes all succumbing to injury. However, both Ederson and Ake also start this afternoon, but Kovacic and Nunes remain sidelined.
Having already missed a chunk of the season with a hip injury, a fresh muscle issue was expected to keep Stones out for the coming weeks. However, the England international is back and on the bench for this afternoon’s game.
City XI: Ederson, Walker, Ruben Dias, Akanji, Ake, Rodri, Foden, Alvarez, Bernardo Silva, Doku, Haaland.
Subs: Ortega, Carson, Phillips, Stones, Gomez, Gvardiol, Bobb, Lewis.
Speaking ahead of the game, City defender Manuel Akanji said: "It’s a really intense game and you can feel it right from the start.
"Both teams are always up for it, we give everything for these games and so we’ve got to set the tone in front of our fans and we want to keep our place at the top of the table."
Read on liverpoolecho.co.uk
