Manchester City meet Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final and several players may miss the match at Wembley Stadium as Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola have decisions to make
Erling Haaland looks on before a Manchester City match
Pep Guardiola is "pretty sure" Erling Haaland is ready for the Carabao Cup final against Arsenal(Image: Richard Sellers/Allstar, Getty Images)
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Manchester City could be close to having an almost fully fit squad again for the Carabao Cup final against a potential injury-affected Arsenal.
Josko Gvardiol is the only City player that Pep Guardiola will definitely be without through injury as the defender continues to recover from a leg fracture. Marc Guehi, meanwhile, will miss out after not signing in time this winter before the semi-finals.
Max Alleyne has also been absent from their last two matches. John Stones, Rico Lewis and Savinho have been missing recently, too. However, all three made the bench for their midweek loss to Real Madrid.
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Bernardo Silva was shown a red card in that game for handball, but the ban only applies to UEFA competitions, so he remains available for the cup final.
Pep Guardiola also sounds positive about Erling Haaland despite withdrawing the striker during the second half in midweek. He said afterwards: "Erling Haaland has no injury, he will be available against Arsenal in the cup final."
Guardiola added on Friday: "I'm pretty sure he's focused, like all of us. I didn't speak with him, we had two days off [after the Real Madrid match], but I'm pretty sure he's ready."
As for City's opponents, Eberechi Eze, Jurrien Timber and Martin Odegaard are all questionable to play. The trio did not participate in Friday's training session, but Mikel Arteta confirmed that the team will train again on Saturday.
The former City assistant manager has not ruled out any of them returning for Sunday's match. Eze seems the most probable to play, despite apparently sustaining a minor injury during Tuesday night's Champions League victory over Bayer Leverkusen.
The goalscorer was substituted midway through the second half as a precautionary measure, but reassured TNT Sports afterwards: "I'm alright, I'll be OK." Arteta also confirmed there were no new injuries following their fixture in Germany.
Mikel Merino remains sidelined for an extended period, with Odegaard and Timber also out. Their captain has now missed six consecutive matches due to a knee injury since appearing as a second-half substitute in the north London derby.
Odegaard also sat out four of the five games before that, his only appearance being as a substitute against Brentford. Timber, on the other hand, was substituted before half-time in the 2-0 victory over Everton due to an ankle injury.
However, the issue seems minor as he is due to join the Netherlands for their upcoming friendlies against Ecuador and Norway. Notably absent from the Norway squad is Odegaard, while England have also selected Eze for their matches against Japan and Uruguay.
Arteta discussed the fitness of Odegaard and Timber during Friday's pre-match press conference. Arsenal's manager said: "We have another training session, so the ones that are in contention hopefully can give us good news. We have another session, so let's see if they can make it."