Haaland given extra rest days as fatigued City face Liverpool after guilty verdict

Manchester City have given Erling Haaland extra days off after Norway manager Stale Solbakken warned the striker was “thoroughly spent” during the international break, with Sunday’s Premier League visit to Anfield looming.

Haaland was substituted during Norway’s 2-1 defeat to Portugal with suspected muscle fatigue, though fears over a serious injury have since been allayed. Solbakken confirmed the 26-year-old is among a group of players who have been afforded additional rest time by their clubs before returning for the weekend fixture.

“Erling was simply thoroughly spent,” Solbakken said. “Some of my players have only had six or seven days of holiday. And you do not live off your physical condition in a normal job. Then it is straight into the start of the season, followed by a mini-tournament, so it is an extreme strain. He’s in the group that carries the heaviest workload — precisely because his team plays in every tournament and he’s the main man.”

Despite the fatigue concerns, Haaland has been in sharp form this season, scoring five goals in five Premier League appearances and netting twice in City’s 2-0 Champions League win over FC Porto.

The match at Anfield arrives at a turbulent moment for City, coming in the immediate aftermath of an independent commission finding the club guilty on 114 of 115 charges relating to alleged financial breaches across nine seasons between 2009-10 and 2017-18. City have lodged an appeal.

England manager Thomas Tuchel acknowledged the verdict has permeated the football world. “It is of course a topic and we speak about it at dinner and at a table of eight or 12 people,” he said. “I know the Man City players get a lot of messages and phone calls and feedback about it.”

City’s players are expected to face questions about the commission’s findings when they speak to the media ahead of the Anfield fixture, adding an unusual backdrop to what is already one of the Premier League’s most high-profile rivalries.