Man City’s Haaland Out until End of January, Says Guardiola

Manchester City's Norwegian striker #09 Erling Haaland smiles during the preparations for the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Sheffield United at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on December 30, 2023. (AFP)
Manchester City's Norwegian striker #09 Erling Haaland smiles during the preparations for the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Sheffield United at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on December 30, 2023. (AFP)
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Man City’s Haaland Out until End of January, Says Guardiola

Manchester City's Norwegian striker #09 Erling Haaland smiles during the preparations for the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Sheffield United at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on December 30, 2023. (AFP)
Manchester City's Norwegian striker #09 Erling Haaland smiles during the preparations for the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Sheffield United at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on December 30, 2023. (AFP)

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland will be sidelined until the end of January due to a foot injury, manager Pep Guardiola said.

City play Newcastle United in the Premier League later on Saturday, visit Tottenham Hotspur in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Jan. 26 before hosting Burnley in the league on Jan. 31.

Guardiola said he expects the 23-year-old Norwegian to return to training during their camp in Abu Dhabi next week.

"It's the bone. It needs time," Guardiola told reporters ahead of the trip to St. James' Park.

"It's fine, but the doctors decided to stop for one week and maybe restart in Abu Dhabi. Hopefully, at the end of this month, he'll be ready. It was a little bit more than we expected in the beginning."

Haaland, the joint top scorer in the Premier League alongside Liverpool's Mohamed Salah with 14 goals, has missed City's last eight games in all competitions.

"We need him," Guardiola said. "Hopefully he can come back and play the last four or five months without a problem."

The City manager also said Swiss defender Manuel Akanji would be out of action until the end of the month but did have some positive news on Kevin De Bruyne, with the Belgian set to return to the starting 11.

The 32-year-old, who suffered a hamstring injury on the first day of the season against Burnley, came on as a substitute in the FA Cup win over Huddersfield last weekend.

Guardiola gave a positive response when asked if the midfielder could start at Newcastle.

"Yes. From what I saw yesterday I feel really good, he was dynamic, and the minutes he played was better than the training sessions before the Huddersfield game.

"He is getting better now, he will have a few days off after this game and can train in Abu Dhabi to be better for the next few months," he added.

City are third, five points behind leaders Liverpool, but Guardiola's side have a game in hand and the manager still believes they can win a fourth consecutive league title.

"How many points left? 18 or 19 games ... so obviously mathematically possible," the manager said.

Newcastle are ninth, 11 points behind City, and come into the game on the back of three consecutive league defeats.



Japan Qualify for BJK Cup Finals with Win Over Canada

Japan's Moyuka Uchijima levelled the tie when she breezed through the second match against Canadian Marina Stakusic, winning 6-3, 6-3 - AFP
Japan's Moyuka Uchijima levelled the tie when she breezed through the second match against Canadian Marina Stakusic, winning 6-3, 6-3 - AFP
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Japan Qualify for BJK Cup Finals with Win Over Canada

Japan's Moyuka Uchijima levelled the tie when she breezed through the second match against Canadian Marina Stakusic, winning 6-3, 6-3 - AFP
Japan's Moyuka Uchijima levelled the tie when she breezed through the second match against Canadian Marina Stakusic, winning 6-3, 6-3 - AFP

Japan became the seventh team to book their place at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals when they came from behind to beat Canada 2-1 in Tokyo on Sunday.

Victory in the doubles put them top of Group A and means they will be heading to Shenzhen in September to join hosts China, defending champions Italy and fellow qualifying group winners Ukraine, Spain, Great Britain and Kazakhstan.

The one remaining place will go to either Slovakia or USA, who meet in Bratislava later on Sunday, AFP reported.

Canada and Japan had both blanked Romania 3-0 in their opening matches, setting up the head-to-head finale which was played out in front of a noisy Tokyo crowd.

The Canadians made the better start with Victoria Mboko edging Ena Shibahara over three sets, 6-4, 6-7 (8/10), 7-5.

Moyuka Uchijima then levelled the tie when she breezed through the second match against Marina Stakusic, winning 6-3, 6-3.

That left everything on the doubles where Japan could call on the experienced Shuko Aoyama, now 37, and Eri Hozumi against Rebecca Marino and Kayla Cross.

The Japanese took the first set 6-3 but the Canadians hit back strongly to lead 5-1 in the second, at which point they wobbled, losing four games in a row.

They held their nerve to break again and take the set 7-5 but were immediately in trouble in the decider when Marino was broken.

As pressure mounted and errors crept into the Canadians' game, the Japanese pair turned the screw to see out a 6-2 final set which qualified them for the China showpiece.

The BJK Cup qualifiers featured six groups of three nations with the winners booking a ticket to the eight-team final tournament.