Man City without "brain and muscles"... a golden opportunity for Salah and the competitors

 Man City without "brain and muscles"... a golden opportunity for Salah and the competitors

The Spanish Pep Guardiola, the English coach of Manchester City, is facing a major crisis after the injury sustained by his team’s star and top scorer, Erling Haaland, and the increased possibility of his absence from the Premier League summit against Liverpool.

Liverpool will be a guest at Etihad Stadium to face Manchester City next Saturday, as part of the thirteenth round of the English Premier League, as each team seeks to emerge from the match on top.

Manchester City tops the English Premier League standings with 28 points, followed by Liverpool with 27 points on goal difference from third-placed Arsenal.

Absence of "brain and muscles"

Manchester City suffered a painful blow at the beginning of the current season after Belgian Kevin De Bruyne suffered a knee injury, causing the European champion to lose his thinking mind in one of the most important periods of the season.

Haaland's scoring numbers and attempts on goal declined with the absence of Kevin De Bruyne, and Pep changed the style of play by relying on a late striker behind Haaland instead of playing with a playmaker like De Bruyne.

But what Guardiola was not waiting for was the injury of the team's top scorer, Haaland, as the Norwegian player suffered an injury during the last international break, during his country's match against the Faroe Islands national team.

Haaland is undergoing intensive treatment sessions in order to catch up with the Liverpool match, but the chances of him missing the awaited match are high, with Guardiola's concerns growing about the worsening of the injury and his absence for long periods if he takes a risk against Liverpool.

What does Pip do?

During De Bruyne's absence, Guardiola changed his philosophy and relied on Argentine Julian Alvarez instead of the Belgian playmaker, and changed the position's duties from making plays to entering the penalty area and becoming a second striker.

The problem with Haaland's absence is that his replacement on Manchester City's roster is the same player that Guardiola used to compensate for the absence of Kevin De Bruyne, which puts the Spanish coach now in a difficult position, not only to replace Haaland, but also to replace De Bruyne.

Pep may have to return Alvarez to his natural position at the head of the attack instead of Haaland, and then look for a player in the position of a late striker or playmaker, in which case one of the other positions may be harmed.

Englishman Phil Foden or Portuguese Bernardo Silva can play as a late striker or playmaker, but Guardiola will have to replace them on the wings with other players.

An opportunity for Salah

The Golden Shoe race is heating up this season to win the English Premier League top scorer award, between several players, led by Haaland, who won the last award last season, and Mohamed Salah, the Liverpool star, who has 3 golden shoes at home.

Haaland currently tops the scorers' table with 13 goals, and Mohamed Salah comes behind him with 10 goals, before the duo plays against each other at Etihad Stadium as scheduled, had it not been for the injury that threatens Haaland from participating in the upcoming confrontation.

If Haaland's absence is confirmed, Mohamed Salah will have a golden opportunity to reduce the gap with Haaland by scoring against his team, especially since he has been accustomed to visiting Manchester City's net throughout the past period in all local and European competitions.