How will Erling Haaland's injury lay-off impact Manchester City's UEFA Champions League qualification hopes?
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Published 01/04/2025 at 17:16 GMT+1
Erling Haaland is set for a spell on the sidelines after being ruled out for several weeks with an ankle injury. With Manchester City pursuing a place in next season's UEFA Champions League and a possible FA Cup win, Pep Guardiola's side will have to navigate this most crucial part of the season without their star striker.
Guardiola 'so sorry' for Haaland as striker ruled out for up to seven weeks
Video credit: SNTV
Manchester City will be without star striker Erling Haaland for much of the remainder of the campaign after Pep Guardiola confirmed the striker will miss ‘five to seven weeks’ with an ankle injury.
Haaland picked up the injury in City’s 2-1 FA Cup quarter-final win at Bournemouth, leaving Vitality Stadium on crutches having been substituted during the game.
A spell on the sidelines was confirmed by his manager, who will hope the Norwegian is back in action for the season's conclusion in the league and a possible FA Cup final, as well as the expanded FIFA Club World Cup which City will be taking part in this summer.
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"They told me the doctors say between five and seven weeks," said Pep Guardiola ahead of City’s latest Premier League engagement with Leicester City.
"So hopefully, by the end of the season and by the Club World Cup he will be ready."
Which games could Haaland miss for Manchester City?
Following the home match against Leicester, Guardiola will be without his star striker for the Manchester derby clash with arch-rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday.
A Haaland-less City then host Crystal Palace on April 12 live on TNT Sports and discovery+, before a trip to Everton the following week.
Next up, they will be without the Norwegian for the trip to Wembley and their last run at domestic silverware this season, as they face Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup semi-final.
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If the most optimistic prognosis of five weeks is correct, then Haaland’s final absence will be the home match with Wolverhampton Wanderers at the start of May.
However, if he is to miss the full seven weeks, he will be out of the trip to Southampton and potentially miss either the home match with Bournemouth or the FA Cup final, should City overcome Forest.
City's upcoming fixtures Haaland could miss
April 2: Leicester (H)
April 6: Manchester United (A)
April 12: Crystal Palace (H)
April 19: Everton (A)
April 26: Nottingham Forest (N) – FA Cup semi-final
May 2: Wolves (H)
May 10: Southampton (A)
May 17 / 18: FA Cup Final / Bournemouth (H)
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What does this mean in the race for Champions League places?
At the time of writing, City sit in fifth place in the Premier League, outside the top four spots which are guaranteed a place in next season’s UEFA Champions League.
However, the Premier League looks set to receive a fifth place in the competition off the back of strong performances in Europe this year boosting the coefficient ranking.
With nine matches remaining, City look locked in a battle for these places with several teams, from fourth place Chelsea as far down to Bournemouth in 10th.
When is the FIFA Club World Cup?
The newly-expanded FIFA Club World Cup begins on June 14, with the final on July 13.
City will be one of 32 teams from across all six FIFA confederations competing in the tournament in the USA.
Their group fixtures are against Wydad AC (June 18), Al Ain (June 23) and Juventus (June 26).
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How important is Haaland to Manchester City?
Haaland’s importance to Manchester City cannot be understated.
Since arriving at the Etihad in the summer of 2022, Haaland has scored 84 goals in 94 Premier League appearances, winning back-to-back Golden Boot awards in his first two seasons in the division.
His debut season also culminated in the club winning a historic treble, lifting a first UEFA Champions League crown, as well as the Premier League title and FA Cup.
City successfully defended the Premier League last season. This season, despite City enduring a difficult time in the league, Haaland still remains one of the league’s most dangerous players.
As of the point at which his injury has been announced, only an imperious Mohamed Salah is beating him in various key attacking metrics this season.
Premier League 2024/25 - Top Goalscorers
| Mohamed Salah | 27 |
| Erling Haaland | 21 |
| Alexander Isak | 19 |
| Chris Wood | 18 |
| Bryan Mbeumo | 15 |
Premier League 2024/25 - Shots on target
| Erling Haaland | 58 |
| Mohamed Salah | 55 |
| Cole Palmer | 42 |
| Matheus Cunha | 35 |
| Alexander Isak | 34 |
| Ollie Watkins | 34 |
Premier League 2024/25 - Expected goals
| Mohamed Salah | 22.15 |
| Erling Haaland | 20.87 |
| Alexander Isak | 15.55 |
| Cole Palmer | 15.26 |
| Ollie Watkins | 13.87 |
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Haaland has only failed to start 15 league games out of 105 since he joined the club, missing 11 of those in their entirety.
The last time he was absent, City went down 2-0 at home to runaway leaders Liverpool, but it was only the second time they lost a Premier League match without Haaland - the first coming at Brentford in the final match of the 22/23 campaign, with the title already wrapped up and two cup finals on the horizon.
| Premier League - Haaland Starting | With | Without |
| Games | 90 | 15 |
| Wins | 58 | 12 |
| Draws | 17 | 1 |
| Lost | 15 | 2 |
While Haaland’s absence will be felt by City given his incredible output, Guardiola can take heart from the fact that his side is not as over-reliant on the striker as some might expect.
In fact, overall, City have a better win ratio in the Premier League - albeit from a small sample - when Haaland is out, and even though they do average slightly fewer goals per game, shots on target and conversion rate without him, they can be confident of being able to deal with his absence.
| Premier League - Haaland Starting | With | Without |
| Win Percent | 64.4% | 80.0% |
| Goals / Game | 2.4 | 2.2 |
| xG / Game | 2.1 | 1.9 |
| Shots / Game | 16.6 | 17.7 |
| Shots on Target / Game | 6.4 | 6.2 |
| Touches in the Opp Box / Game | 38.6 | 36.2 |
| Shot Conversion Rate | 14.2% | 12.4% |
All stats from Opta
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