Haaland Returns as City Faces Villa Amid Injury Concerns
Erling Haaland is back on the team sheet and, for Enzo Maresca, that might be the only certainty.
City’s midweek Champions League win over AEK Athens doubled as a much-needed breather for some of his biggest names, with the manager juggling form, fatigue and a growing injury list ahead of the trip to face Villa in the Midlands.
Haaland ready, others walking a tightrope
Haaland, who finished the Ipswich game limping heavily, was left out entirely against AEK. So was Marc Guehi. Both were granted a full night off, the kind of rest that tells its own story in a season already starting to bite physically.
By Thursday afternoon, Maresca cut straight to the point.
“Erling is the only one 100 per cent available,” he said, underlining just how delicate the situation is elsewhere in his squad.
Nico O’Reilly, Matheus Nunes and Mateo Kovacic all sat out the European tie as they recover from knocks sustained in quick succession against Ipswich. Their status remains finely poised.
“We have a session this afternoon. They can be all available or not. Yesterday they were all improving, and we'll see this afternoon,” Maresca added, leaving the door open but refusing to promise anything.
City’s medical room, not the tactics board, is shaping the narrative of this weekend.
Defensive jigsaw at the back
One beneficiary of the enforced reshuffle has been Josko Gvardiol. With O’Reilly absent, the Croat started against AEK Athens at left-back and did enough to convince his manager he should stay there, even after appearing to pick up a minor knock late on. Maresca has since played that issue down, easing any fears of another defensive absentee.
On the opposite side, the picture is less settled. If Nunes does not make it, Rayan Ait-Nouri is in line for a rare start on the right of defence. It is hardly Maresca’s first-choice configuration, but necessity is beginning to dictate selection.
Guehi’s rest in midweek looked more precautionary than alarming, yet it underlined how carefully Maresca is managing minutes with a long season stretching out ahead.
Foden’s form forces a dilemma
Up the pitch, the decisions get more intriguing.
Haaland has been cleared to start and, barring a late twist, will lead the line. That part feels non-negotiable. The real debate comes in the quartet behind him.
Phil Foden has thrust himself to the centre of the conversation. Deployed in the No10 role on Wednesday night, he tore into AEK with a hat-trick, the kind of performance that usually guarantees you keep your place in the same position.
Yet Rayan Cherki is also due to return to the side, and that changes the geometry of Maresca’s attack. If Cherki is handed the central creative role, Foden could be nudged out to the left, where his ability to drift inside and combine with Haaland offers a different type of threat.
That, in turn, opens a lane for Iliman Ndiaye to operate on the opposite flank, giving City a front four that blends movement, dribbling and direct running around their No9.
One name Maresca cannot call on is Antoine Semenyo. The forward faces around eight weeks out with a knee injury suffered against Ipswich, a blow that strips City of another powerful option in the wide areas and tightens the squeeze on the rest of the attacking unit.
Fine margins before Villa
So City head to Villa with their superstar striker ready, their playmaker in red-hot form, and a cluster of key figures hovering between the treatment table and the team bus.
Maresca’s final session will decide who crosses that line. And with the schedule already unforgiving, each selection call now carries the weight of the weeks still to come.
