Pep Guardiola suffer huge injury setback ahead of top of the table clash with Arsenal with star player set to miss game

Pep Guardiola admits Erling Haaland is a doubt for Manchester City’s match against Arsenal after being substituted at half-time against Aston Villa.

Man City rebounded from last weekend’s loss to Tottenham by defeating Unai Emery’s Villa 3-1 on Sunday.

Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan, and Riyad Mahrez scored in the first half to put the hosts up 3-0, before Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins equalised on the hour mark.

Haaland, who has 31 goals for Man City since joining last summer, appeared to be suffering from a thigh injury after colliding with Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and was taken off at halftime.

When asked if Haaland would be available to face Arsenal, Guardiola replied, ‘Right now, I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see over the next few days.

‘He got a knock and was uncomfortable so at 3-0 up we didn’t want to take the risk. We’ll evaluate him, and if he’s not ready, we’ll play someone else. Hopefully, he is prepared.’

Guardiola will want Haaland on his team as Manchester City prepares to face Premier League title rivals Arsenal on Wednesday night.

Despite picking up just one point in their last two games, Arsenal are three points ahead of defending champions Manchester City with a game in hand.

‘Arsenal have a game in hand,’ Guardiola said of the upcoming Premier League clash. We’ll see when the Premier League is over after all of the games.

‘However, we’re going to London to try to win. When one team scores 50 points in the first leg, it is because they are extremely talented. We closed the gap today because the team’s performance was outstanding.’

‘We have the opportunity to go to the top and show our personality and the team that we are,’ Manchester City midfielder Rodri added.

‘They’re playing at an incredible level, and we’re playing at an incredible level as well. It’s going to be an incredible fight and battle, and we have the opportunity to be on top of the table, so that’s what we have to think about.’

This season, Arsenal has been the best team in England, but Mikel Arteta’s side has stumbled, losing to Everton last weekend and dropping two points at home to Brentford on Saturday.