Erling Haaland faces race against time for Liverpool clash

Manchester City are waiting on the fitness of top scorer Erling Haaland ahead of Sunday’s clash with Liverpool.

The prolific Norwegian, who has scored 27 goals this term, was an unused substitute as City exited the Champions League with defeat at Real Madrid on Wednesday.

Haaland was taken off with a knee problem in the closing minutes of last Saturday’s victory over Newcastle but manager Pep Guardiola had initially played down fears of a serious setback.

Yet when he failed to make the starting line-up at the Bernabeu Stadium it become obvious there was an issue and, while Guardiola said scans were clear, he later revealed the striker had felt some discomfort walking up stairs.

That leaves Haaland in a race against time for a match at the Etihad Stadium this weekend that could impact the Premier League title race and the battle for top-four places.

Second-placed Arsenal will hope City’s determination to shore up their own position in the Champions League positions can lead to them taking points off leaders Liverpool.

But City will need to rouse themselves after experiencing what was another low point in a frustrating campaign.

Any hope City had of fighting back from their 3-2 defeat in the first leg of their play-off tie against Real was ruthlessly demolished by Kylian Mbappe, who scored a clinical hat-trick to send the holders into the last 16 with a comfortable 3-1 win.

City defender Nathan Ake said: “There’s been a lot of setbacks this season, maybe more than we’ve been used to. It’s a new experience for everyone.

“How we dealt with it here obviously wasn’t good enough. We have to try to do that better in the next few games especially, against top teams as well.

“We have to make sure we’re more resilient, stronger in those situations when things go against us.

“We still have to keep the belief we can (do that). In these big games, we’ve done it before, and we’ve done it a few times this season. Obviously most of the time this season we haven’t.

“The only thing we can do is look forward and go to the next one, at home, with confidence.

“We also have to accept that these last two games against Madrid they were just better.”

John Stones will also be assessed after being forced off in the opening minutes at the Bernabeu.