Erling Haaland is "100 per cent available" to feature for Manchester City as they visit Aston Villa this weekend, Enzo Maresca has confirmed, though three of his team-mates are facing late fitness tests.
There were concerns for Haaland's fitness when he hobbled off last weekend, heading straight down the tunnel after scoring a brace in a dramatic 3-2 defeat of Ipswich Town.
That concern came after he had made four appearances for Norway over the international break and started all three of City's matches since.
Rested and Ready for Villa Park
He was named to the matchday squad but left on the bench for the full duration of Tuesday night's five-goal demolition of AEK Athens, in which Phil Foden scored a hat-trick, but Enzo Maresca insisted at full-time he was fit to feature if need be.
And he has doubled down again, saying the formidable forward, now nicely rested, is ready to go at Villa Park.
"Erling is the only one 100 per cent available," he confirmed on Thursday.
Fitness Doubts for Trio
Worries remain, however, for Matheus Nunes, Nico O'Reilly and Mateo Kovacic.
Kovacic is carrying a knock, while Nunes and O'Reilly are both dealing with niggles. None of the trio were in the matchday squad against AEK.
And speaking on Thursday, Maresca confirmed he did not yet know when they might be able to return.
"We have a session this afternoon," he explained. "They can be all available or not. Yesterday they were all improving, and we'll see this afternoon."
Potential Starting Combination
He issued a further team news hint, however, as he suggested Haaland, Foden and Ryaan Cherki could all start alongside each other: "It depends a little bit on the game plan. I think they can play all together, yeah."
Antoine Semenyo is facing months on the sidelines with a knee injury.
