Manchester City have been dealt a massive blow ahead of their showdown with Liverpool as it has emerged that Phil Foden, one of the top performers this season for Pep Guardiola, will be absent from the clash.
The Englishman withdrew from international duty after the 2-1 win over Italy, with Gareth Southgate confirming that the attacker was undergoing surgery for appendicitis after feeling pain during training.
And a Manchester City statement confirmed that he will be unavailable for the return of the Premier League, when they host Jurgen Klopp’s struggling Liverpool at the Etihad on Saturday lunchtime.
‘He will not be fit for this weekend; it is unclear at this stage how long he will be unavailable for’, the Cityzens revealed.
A message from @PhilFoden. 💙 pic.twitter.com/rQRMWcjzxG
— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) March 26, 2023
As per injury expert Ben Dinnery, appendix injuries usually take around five weeks to recover from, which could see Foden out of action until the beginning of May, which could see the Englishman miss both legs of the Champions League quarter-final with Bayern Munich, as well as the showdown with current Premier League leaders Arsenal at the end of April.
Having started each of the last four Premier League games, his absence will come as a blow to Pep Guardiola, though they have a ready-made replacement in Riyad Mahrez, who has also impressed this campaign and should be able to ensure that the drop in quality is not too great.
His father, Alfe Haaland, has suggested that he should not play a part in the tie, telling the media:
“Firstly, I’m not a doctor and secondly, I think it’s ‘touch and go’ [to face Liverpool]”.
“You can’t just go two weeks without training and then jump right into a fight”, he added.
“There must be a progression there. They (Man City) can gamble on it, but if he doesn’t get proper training with the team, then he won’t play. It is about how he responds to treatment in the next few days.
