Manchester [United Kingdom], March 31 : Manchester City will enter Etihad Stadium to face Liverpool on Saturday with the hope of walking away with three points and keeping their hopes of lifting the Premier League alive for a second consecutive season.
Premier League title defenders will find it hard to claim victory against one of their fearsome rivals as they are likely to miss out on their two key players Erling Haaland and PhilFoden.
"Phil [Foden] had surgery and Erling [Haaland] is in recovery, we will see how he feels after the training session. We'll see today. The doctors will decide how does he feel. I spoke with him yesterday and he feels good. We score a lot of goals, he scores an incredible amount," Pep said at the pre-match conference.
Erling Haaland has been the player who has added ruthlessness to City's attack this season. The Norwegian has already scored 28 goals in 26 Premier League games. He has been able to take his performance to next level when Julian Alvarez has played alongside him.
This was clearly evident in Manchester City's FA Cup quarter-final encounter against Burnley. Pep will certainly be stuck in a dilemma if Haaland fails to regain fitness in time.
"The football is the quality of the players... Haaland has his skills, and Julian has his own skills. It depends, most of the players came back yesterday, we could not do much, today a little bit. Today is the last assessment," Pep continued.
On the other hand, Liverpool's season has been way below their set standards. Their consistent battle with injuries and struggle with keeping up with the number of games has been the reason for their downfall this season.
As Liverpool prepares to face Manchester City on Saturday their battle with injury still continues to trouble them.
"Darwin couldn't train for two or three days this week still because of the cut he got against Real Madrid on his foot, but was yesterday then back in full training so he is definitely in contention," Jurgen Klopp said at the pre-match conference.
"Yeah, we have [other injury concerns].] Naby is out, he came back with a muscle injury from the national team. We will see how long it takes but obviously, the season is not too long anymore. There is a chance that Naby comes back but we have to wait a little bit," Klopp said.
"Thiago is in a good way but was not part of team training yet. I think if things go well he will probably be part of next week's team training, parts - [that] means we will see when he is back. Joe is fully back. Rhys Williams has a little bit of something. I think pretty much the rest is available; all back, "Klopp continued.
Both teams will be eyeing three points to help their cause. A draw will not be beneficial for any team in any way. This game will be fought on tactical levels yet a high-scoring game is still on the cards.
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