A look ahead to Everton's trip to Manchester City at the weekend as Pep Guardiola's star man given useful respite
Erling Haaland of Norway celebrates after scoring one of his three goals against Israel. Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images
Erling Haaland of Norway celebrates after scoring one of his three goals against Israel. Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images
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Erling Haaland is expected to be fresh to face Everton this weekend after Norway allowed him to leave their international camp early. The 25-year-old scored a hat-trick in the 5-0 win over Israel on Saturday.
It was result that moved Norway closer to qualification for next summer’s World Cup and with the second game of their schedule a friendly against New Zealand, Haaland was given leave to end his stay with the national side.
The Norwegian FA confirmed there was no injury concern over the prolific forward, explaining: "Players with particularly tight match schedules are returning home: Alexander Sørloth, Julian Ryerson, Erling Braut Haaland and Fredrik Bjørkan.”
That means Haaland, who is in scintillating form for club and country, will renew his battle with the Blues at the Etihad on Saturday.
The 25-year-old scored but was lucky to avoid a red card for a lunge on Vitalii Mykolenko in the ill-tempered 1-1 draw there under Frank Lampard.
He then scored two late goals to edge City to victory the following season before missing a penalty when Everton earned another draw there last season. Haaland missed two penalties against Israel at the weekend seeing both efforts saved after he was given the chance to retake his first spot kick.
While the Premier League's nine-goal top scorer is expected to feature, one of his closest friends will have to watch from the sidelines.
Haaland was among the first to publicly congratulate Jack Grealish on his loan move to Everton but the terms of the deal mean the England international, whose stoppage-time winner against Crystal Palace sent David Moyes' men into the break on a high, is ineligible to play.
Blues boss Moyes is set to provide updates on the status of Jarrad Branthwaite and Merlin Rohl at his pre-match press conference on Friday. Both have suffered injury problems but were making progress ahead of the Palace match.
Michael Keane left the pitch with a rib injury in the second half, providing another concern for a defence that would have to be re-shaped should he be unavailable.
City manager Pep Guardiola had his own injury issues heading into the break, with Abdukadir Khusanov, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Rodri and Omar Marmoush each dealing with concerns.
Rodri was withdrawn from the club's last game, against Brentford, with a hamstring problem and could miss out.