Nine Liverpool players could miss Man City FA Cup tie as Erling Haaland gets 'special treatment'
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SportFootballLiverpool FCLiverpool are next in action against Manchester City in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Saturday afternoonErling Haaland will be well rested for Manchester City's FA Cup quarter-final tie against Liverpool on Saturday having missed a meeting with Virgil van Dijk on international duty.Norway boss Stale Solbakken admitted that he was giving Haaland 'special treatment' during this international break, and allowed the forward to sit out his side's 2-1 defeat to the Netherlands in Amsterdam on Friday, where Van Dijk scored the opening goal.Haaland is instead likely to line up in Norway's friendly against Switzerland in Oslo on Tuesday evening, with Solbakken admitting he has given his star forward time off this week.“We have to take into account the overall load Erling has been under for a long, long time, and based on that we have concluded that the best solution for all parties is for him to get a necessary break now," said Solbakken prior to the Netherlands game.FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FC FACEBOOK PAGE! All the latest news and analysis from Anfield on the Liverpool Echo's dedicated LFC Facebook page“Our conclusion is that it’s best if Erling participates in at most one of the matches during this international break, and we think it would be nice if he perhaps gets to show himself in front of the Ullevaal crowd against Switzerland.“It is special treatment.
Precisely because of what Erling has been through both on and off the pitch. There is a huge amount of pressure on him, and for me it is by far most important that he delivers at the World Cup in June.”While Haaland is set to be fit and ready for City, Liverpool could be without as many as nine players for the trip to the Etihad Stadium.Conor Bradley, Giovanni Leoni and Wataru Endo all remain out with their long-term issues, while youngsters Stefan Bajcetic and Jayden Danns continue to be absent from first-team plans.Alisson Becker, who missed the Premier League trip to City in November with a hamstring problem, said that he expected to be "out of action for a while" prior to the trip to Brighton, for which he was replaced by Giorgi Mamardashvili.Mohamed Salah missed that game too, although will be aiming for a return in Liverpool's first match since he announced he will be leaving at the end of the season.Federico Chiesa came on as a late substitute at Brighton but then had to pull out of the Italy squad through injury, and Alexander Isak continues to work his back to full fitness following the broken leg he sustained in December.Arne Slot had previously stated he expects to have Isak back fit around the time of the Champions League quarter-final ties with Paris Saint-Germain, and the Liverpool boss will hold a press conference later this week.Choose Liverpool Echo as a 'Preferred Source' on Google News for quick access to the news you value.Liverpool FC