Currently, not only Haaland but John Stones and Akanji will also certainly not be in the Manchester City squad in this match and that has been answered by Pep in previous journalists' questions.
It is currently rumoured that Haaland still needs time because after all he is still not fully fit so he will be left to rest and Pep himself does not know how long Haaland needs time but the hope is that he is fully recovered by the end of January and indirectly this gives an answer that it is likely that Haaland will still not be in the squad for the next few matches.
But there is a breath of fresh air at the moment because at least their youngster Doku is back fit and continuing his good form and for De Bruyne he's been injured and the recovery is quite long so I agree with what you're saying because rather than starting with a situation that will be very dangerous for De Bruyne then temporarily backing up and playing when in the arms is a good strategy from Pep.
Well, but indeed the presence of Doku and KDB in Manchester City's midfield gives them a new fighting spirit and a different game because with these 2 players their attack line is more focused where Doku with his speed and of course KDB with his style that we know what kind of game pattern to encourage Manchester City's attack power with a very mature pass.
Yesterday's match was an answer that Manchester City was ready to make a breakthrough in the half of this season because even without Haaland they were very good especially if there was Haaland in their line up.
The best credit goes to KDB in the match against Newcastle yesterday because with 1 goal and 1 assist given it really makes him worthy to be used as a backbone for Manchester City in midfield.
I agree because after all at this time KDB is really very much needed and her presence brings a different pattern of attack for Manchester City that is very much felt because after all with her presence in the squad indirectly this adds to the breakout power of Manchester City because KDB is one of the very good initiators in this case so it is quite natural that she is one of the players who is eagerly awaited and her presence will make a loss.
Rodri is also a good player but Rodri's role is slightly different because in the end when we compare Rodri and KDB the tasks are also different. Rodri is more focused on defence but for KDB he is used as one of the initiators in the attack so that when these two players play then indirectly the Manchester City midfield will become stronger because their attack and defence are filled with players who do have above-average performance to date.
The premier League 23/24 season is going to be for 3 contenders Liverpool fc, Manchester city fc and Arsenal FC. I believe Arsenal are going to comeback stronger this year with some key players coming back from injury and they could also strengthen their squad in some key positions especially getting a top striker it will help them allot. For Liverpool without their best player Mo.salah for this period will affect them a bit but right now they are in a good form and their next match against Bournemouth is going to be tough game for them. Manchester city are becoming consistent as they use to be especially with the return of KDB their game is going to be at top level with their last performance against Newcastle away without erling Haaland. I think they are favourites to win the league again this season.
It depends on how Arteta manages his players. Until now Arsenal's only problem has been in terms of performance because they can play very well but on the other hand they can also turn bad so when Arteta cannot stabilise that and anticipate the problems that have long existed for them then Arsenal will not be able to do anything.
Arsenal in terms of performance at the beginning of the season was good but we know that when it came to the half of last season they had a problem of declining performance quickly and when that cannot be anticipated then the performance will be the same as in previous seasons.