Pep Guardiola gives Haaland and Dias update after Villa victory
Pep Guardiola provided an update on Erling Haaland and Ruben Dias following their halftime substitutions in City’s 3-1 win against Aston Villa.
The City manager disclosed that Haaland received a kick in the first half and was subsequently substituted as a precaution, with Manchester City leading by three goals going into halftime.
Over the following three days, he will be examined in preparation for Wednesday’s top-of-the-table match against Arsenal.
“Erling has a kick and we will see,” Guardiola said. “We will assess him in the next few days to see how severe it is.
“At half-time I spoke with the doctors to see and they said maybe at 3-0 we don’t need to take a risk and I agreed with the doctors.
“If the score was more tight maybe I wouldn’t do it. I think he’s not injured but tomorrow we will see. Hopefully he can play there on Wednesday. If he’s not ready or it’s a risk he’s not going to play.”
Guardiola did not want to risk a second yellow card with Villa’s threat on the counterattack, so he substituted Dias after he received his first.
The Portuguese international made his first City start since the World Cup after regaining full fitness, and he should be in contention against the Gunners.
“Ruben [was substituted] because it was a yellow card,” the boss said. “Of course, he was disappointed but unfortunately he got a yellow card – I don’t know why but it is what it is.
“With [Ollie] Watkins and [Leon] Bailey they have good runners in behind so we decide to not take risks with the score at 3-0.”
Victory moved us to within three points of Arsenal with the chance to go top of the Premier League with a win at the Emirates Stadium.
While it’s a huge match, Guardiola is expecting no easy games between now and the end of the season but is confident that his side will travel to London with confidence.
“Today I had the feeling that every game will be so difficult,” he added. “The players at the bottom of the league are fighting for so many things. Every game is tougher and tougher.
“We will travel to London to play our game.
“Especially the way we are behaving in the training sessions in the last week to 10 days, we improved a lot.
“Everyone is so focused, not just the performances. You have to have the chance to be competitive – that doesn’t ensure you will win, but without that it is impossible.”
Pep Guardiola gives Haaland and Dias update after Villa victory
