ERLING HAALAND could be back in time for Manchester City’s crunch clash with Liverpool tomorrow.
The 42-goal striker has been recovering from a minor groin injury he picked up scoring a hat-trick against Burnley two weeks ago.
He did not train with his team-mates on Wednesday or yesterday, as he continued to have treatment and did light workouts.
That leaves Haaland facing a race against time to be ready for the lunchtime blockbuster at the Etihad — with City eight points behind leaders Arsenal.
And Pep Guardiola has revealed now that Haaland could feature.
He said: “We’ll see, the doctors and the player will decide, if he feels good.
“We’ll see, life is risks and sometimes you have to take.
“He’s scored a lot of goals, he’s scored a lot, always we are a team to score a lot of goals in the season, this is what we try to do until the end of the season.”
His dad Alf-Inge said last weekend the striker will not face the Reds unless he can play a full part in preparations.
And with a blank midweek to follow for Guardiola’s men, the champions will not want to take risks as they chase the Treble.
Haaland, 22, felt some discomfort in his groin after scoring a hat-trick in their 6-0 FA Cup thumping of Burnley on March 18.
He reported for international duty with Norway later that weekend — but it soon became clear that he would not be ready to feature in their Euro 2024 qualifiers.
The £51.4million star visited his club’s preferred medical experts in Barcelona, before taking some time to relax at his holiday home in Marbella.
Haaland then returned to Manchester late on Sunday night — but has so far not taken part in a full squad session.
And his dad suggested last week the ex-Borussia Dortmund man would need to be training properly to have any chance of starting tomorrow.
Haaland Snr said: “You can’t go two weeks without training, then jump into a fight. There must be a progression there.
“They 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.”