Erling Haaland’s starting place for Manchester City against Ipswich today may be in doubt after Enzo Maresca admitted that he will need a rest soon.
It has been a busy start to the season for Haaland. An ever-present for Man City across three competitions, the only game he’s not featured in so far is the Carabao Cup third round win over Norwich last month.
Injury scare and goalscoring form
Furthermore, Haaland started all four of Norway’s Nations League fixtures during the extended autumn international break and provided City fans with an injury scare after limping off against Portugal on October 4.
However, after proving his fitness, the 26-year-old netted against Liverpool and scored a brace in the Champions League defeat by Paris Saint-Germain, taking his tally to 13 goals for club and country already this season.
Haaland is also on a run of having scored in seven successive games for Man City, breaking two Champions League records in a thriller against PSG, but hopes of starting against Ipswich are seemingly in doubt with Maresca hinting at heavy squad rotation.
Maresca on resting players
“At some point we probably need to give him rest, some days off,” the Italian said of Haaland at his pre-match press conference on Friday.
“We are thinking about this not just with Erling because we have players, unfortunately or fortunately, they are playing all the games with us and all the games with the international teams.
“Elliot [Anderson], Enzo [Fernandez], Marc [Guehi], Erling, Ruben [Dias]. At some point we probably need to give them some rest.”
Team news and kick-off details
Although Maresca has confirmed that he is thinking about resting Haaland, it would be a surprise if such a decision was made against Ipswich as the Champions League showdown at home to AEK Athens on October 20 appears the more ideal option.
In addition, Man City do not have a natural replacement for Haaland but Antoine Semenyo is capable of leading the line, while Phil Foden often operated as a false nine under former manager Pep Guardiola.
The City team to face Ipswich will be announced at 1.45pm BST on Saturday, October 17, ahead of the 3pm kick-off at the Etihad Stadium where the league leaders can, temporarily perhaps, go six points clear with a win.
