Manchester City face the prospect of being without star striker Erling Haaland for Tuesday’s Champions League game against AEK Athens.
The Norway international scored twice in Saturday’s 3-2 victory over Ipswich Town to take his tally to eight Premier League goals for the season, leading the top-flight scoring charts once more.
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But the 26-year-old suffered a blow to the foot in the game and is now a doubt for the European night at Etihad Stadium, as City look to get back to winning ways in the competition after last week’s 4-2 defeat by Paris St-Germain.
“To replace Erling is always difficult but we have some different options,” said manager Enzo Maresca. “It also depends on the gameplan.
“At the moment it is Erling. Why do we need to think of a different nine if Erling is there? If something happened or we need a different nine plan, we’ll see.”
Should Haaland not make a recovery, it would leave Maresca with a dilemma on who to select up front after Antoine Semenyo was ruled out for eight weeks with the left knee injury he picked up in the win over Ipswich.
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False nine Foden?
Haaland has scored in six consecutive top-flight games to help City to the top of the table with a flawless start from their opening seven games of the campaign.
Against Ipswich, he scored his 100th non-penalty goal in the Premier League, reaching this milestone in fewer appearances than any other player.
Maresca said Haaland “can be available” against AEK and will be assessed after training on Monday, but the player was not present during the session which was open to the media.
Players can find it difficult to feature as back-ups to Haaland, as Julian Alvarez and Omar Marmoush have found in the past, but it was a surprise when Divin Mubama was allowed to join Championship side Southampton on loan in the summer.
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It left City without a natural replacement in Haaland’s absence.
Maresca has previously said Semenyo can be used “as a nine” but that plan is no longer available with the Ghanaian facing the prospect of missing up to 13 matches.
One option mooted by the Italian is midfielder Phil Foden, who ended his barren run in front of goal on Saturday by scoring his first Premier League goal since December.
“Phil can be one of the solutions,” said Maresca. “He played already in the past in that position so could play again, but at the moment the number nine is Erling.”
Could summer signing Iliman Ndiaye be another option?
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The Senegal international was often deployed as a striker in Sheffield United’s promotion-winning campaign in 2022-23, scoring 14 goals to help the Blades return to the Premier League.
Last season, manager Pep Guardiola said Rayan Cherki fits playing in the false nine role “perfectly”, with the Frenchman scoring in a 2-0 Carabao Cup quarter-final win over Brentford when used in that position.
‘Not good’ losing Semenyo
Semenyo’s injury complicates matters.
The City forward appeared as a 77th-minute substitute on Saturday but hobbled straight down the tunnel at full-time with Maresca initially expecting an “even worse injury”.
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The Ghana international has made 10 appearances in all competitions this season, scoring two goals and providing three assists.
“To lose Antoine or any player is not good,” Maresca said on Monday.
“In the first moment we expected an even worse injury, so we were more worried, but after Sunday’s scan we feel much better.
“It could be eight weeks. The most important thing for him is to recover and also when he is back, probably around December, we will have a new player in terms of energy.
“It is a collateral [knee injury], something like this. It is not a muscle problem.”
Jeremy Doku started on the left flank against Ipswich and should continue in that role in the absence of Semenyo.
