Erling Haaland left out of Manchester City’s starting lineup against Leicester after picking up an injury

Erling Haaland won’t feature in Manchester City’s starting lineup as the club returns to Premier League action at lunchtime today against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium.

The 22-year-old Norwegian talisman who has featured in every Premier League game this season, was missing on City’s starting XI for their clash against Leicester after being rated as a fitness doubt for the clash by Guardiola.

City find themselves second in the Premier League table, two points behind table toppers Arsenal. With three games remaining before the World Cup break, they can leave themselves in a healthy position when the campaign resumes in late December.

Haaland was substituted at half time by the Catalan coach during their goalless Champions League draw with Borussia Dortmund and it later emerged Haaland had picked up a foot injury against his former club, with Guardiola admitting he faced a race against time to prove his fitness.

Reports of leaked team news from City suggested that Haaland is out of the squad entirely, while Phil Foden will not be included in the starting XI as Guardiola shuffles the pack.

This season, Haaland has taken the top flight by storm, scoring 17 goals in just 11 appearances at a rate of a goal every 54 minutes.