Sunday’s briefing: Haaland suffers injury scare and Arsenal’s super sub shines

An injury scare for Manchester City, Arsenal’s super sub and Sheffield United taking over at the Sky Bet Championship summit were among Saturday’s main talking points.

Any issue surrounding star striker Erling Haaland would be the last thing City need ahead of a Champions League play-off second leg against Real Madrid.

Arsenal, meanwhile, were indebted to temporary striker Mikel Merino for a 2-0 win at Leicester, while the Blades cashed in on Leeds not playing until Monday to take over top spot.

Guardiola hopeful on Haaland

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola allayed fears of an injury scare to top scorer Haaland ahead of next week’s Champions League trip to Madrid.

Haaland went down clutching his leg in the latter stages of the champions’ 4-0 Premier League thrashing of Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium, and was immediately substituted.

Losing the Norwegian would be a major blow to City’s hopes of overturning a 3-2 deficit in the second leg at the Bernabeu on Wednesday, but Guardiola was not overly concerned.

“When he was down everyone was scared, but I think he stood up and he was smiling like always,” Guardiola said.

“I didn’t speak with him and I didn’t speak with the doctors, but the doctors didn’t come with bad news, so hopefully we’ll be fine.”

Super sub surfaces as Arsenal cut gap

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta looked on as super sub and makeshift striker Mikel Merino secured the Premier League title hopefuls a vital victory against Leicester.

The Gunners arrived at the King Power Stadium reeling from Kai Havertz’s season-ending hamstring injury, meaning the top scorer joined Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli on the sidelines.

Arsenal’s makeshift front three failed to click at Leicester despite 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri impressing on the right, but Arteta’s decision to replace ineffective Raheem Sterling with Merino proved inspired.

The Spain midfielder admitted he had never played up front before but looked every bit the frontman as he headed the visitors ahead before striking home another to seal a 2-0 win that closed the gap to four points on leaders Liverpool.

Arteta said: “With everything that happened in the last few days, it was a lot of noise as well, (we needed) to show how much we wanted.”

Dire Diallo news for United

Manchester United forward Amad Diallo could miss the rest of the season with ankle ligament damage, the PA news agency understands.

The 22-year-old has been one of the few bright points in a campaign to forget at Old Trafford, scoring six goals in his last 14 appearances in all competitions.

But Diallo is now facing a spell on the sidelines after sustaining ankle ligament damage in training.

PA understands the Ivory Coast international is still being assessed, but a United source indicated it is touch and go whether he will play again this season.

Diallo confirmed an injury, posting on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Extremely disappointed to be writing this message in such a crucial time of the season. Unfortunately, I will be out for some time with an injury.”

Blades boss Wilder lavishes praise

Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder saw his side go top of the Championship after winning 1-0 at relegation-threatened Luton.

Anel Ahmedhodzic’s goal with 11 minutes left proved the difference on the day as the Blades moved above Leeds to give their chances of automatic promotion another huge boost.

Wilder said: “We lost a couple of players – Tom Cannon and Gus (Hamer) – so we had to change it around a bit.

“We changed personnel, but the togetherness of the group is incredible and that’s the reason we are in the position that we are.

“Every day we turn up and the standards turn up and every game we turn up, and that is what I love about the team.”

What’s on today?

Liverpool will aim to restore a seven-point advantage on second-placed Arsenal when they tackle Wolves at Anfield on Sunday.

Considerable attention will also focus on Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou, who will not let Tottenham’s Premier League campaign peter out despite the Europa League being the club’s last realistic opportunity to salvage an injury-ravaged season.

Spurs experienced 72 hours of cup disappointment last week with their Carabao Cup participation ended in the semi-final stage by Liverpool before a 2-1 loss at Aston Villa consigned them to an FA Cup fourth-round exit.

Postecoglou has faced constant speculation over his position during a difficult winter period where a threadbare squad has struggled, but feels a rare clear midweek has offered them a reset opportunity.