One Manchester City player delivered a concerning performance in his latest international match ahead of next weekend’s Premier League match against Arsenal.
With a number of City players away on international duty, one in particular, who was in action yesterday, failed to impress.
Taking into account how City’s next game is a crucial Premier League showdown against Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium, this performance may not have pleased Pep Guardiola ahead of this big match.
Erling Haaland fails to impress in Norway defeat
Haaland started Norway’s 2-1 friendly defeat to the Czech Republic and completed 75 minutes of action before being substituted off.
During his time on the pitch, the striker had 31 touches of the ball in total, accurately completing 13 of the 18 passes he attempted, ultimately losing possession 11 times in total.
In terms of his attempts at goal, the 23-year-old had three shots in total, but only one was on target and didn’t result in a goal.
This performance ultimately earned the centre-forward a rather underwhelming overall match rating of 6.3/10 from SofaScore, making him the lowest-rated player in the Norway team.
Bearing in mind how Haaland failed to score in his previous game for City in their 2-0 win over Newcastle United in the FA Cup and couldn’t even register a shot on target, that and his latest performance on the international stage could be a concern for Guardiola, especially since City have such a big game ahead of them against Arsenal.
Moving forward, with Norway in action on Tuesday with another friendly match against Slovakia, if Haaland starts this game and is able to get himself on the scoresheet and avoid picking up any injury issues, this should put him in a good place to return to club action and do the business against Mikel Arteta’s side.