Injured Haaland faces long stint on the sidelines
Manchester City striker Erling Haaland is expected to miss between five and seven weeks with an ankle injury, with Thursday's (AEDT) match against Leicester City his first on the sidelines.
Haaland scored City's equaliser early in the second half as they fought back to beat Bournemouth 2-1 and book its place in a seventh successive FA Cup semi-final.
But he was substituted in the 61st minute and later left Vitality Stadium on crutches. His replacement, Omar Marmoush, scored City's second goal just two minutes later.
City revealed Haaland would see a specialist and moved to allay fears that he could miss the FIFA Club World Cup, which begins on 15 June (AEDT).
But boss Pep Guardiola has since confirmed that the Norwegian will be out until early May, meaning he will miss the FA Cup semi-final tie against Nottingham Forest as well as several Premier League matches.
"They told me the doctors say between five to seven weeks," Guardiola said as he previewed the meeting with Leicester.
"So hopefully by the end of the season and the Club World Cup he will be ready. Sometimes there are years when these kinds of things happen. It has happened all season.
"With all the injuries we have had this season, I'm so sorry for them and for Erling as well. So I wish him a good recovery, as speedy as possible, then come back."
Despite City falling out of Premier League title contention this season, Haaland has continued his lethal form in front of goal.
He has 30 goals in 40 appearances in all competitions this season, with only Robert Lewandowski (38), Kylian Mbappe, Harry Kane (both 33) and Mohamed Salah (32) netting more among all players from Europe's top five leagues.
Since Haaland arrived in 2022, City has won 66 per cent of its Premier League games with the Norwegian in its starting line-up.
Haaland previously missed almost two months through injury between December 2023 and January 2024, and City went unbeaten through 11 matches in all competitions in that spell (10 wins, one draw), also lifting the FIFA Club World Cup trophy.
City will be confident of coping without him against Leicester, which is nine points from safety after losing 13 of its past 14 Premier League games, including its past six in a row, all without scoring.
Boss Ruud van Nistelrooy has lost 13 of his 16 games in charge – the joint-second highest loss rate of any manager to lead a club for 15 or more games in the competition.
