Haaland injury update given by Maresca before Man City's trip to Liverpool

Erling Haaland has been declared "ready for Anfield" by Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca after putting his fitness in doubt when he was substituted for Norway on Sunday.

Haaland signalled to the substitutes' bench that he needed to be replaced in the second half of Norway's Nations League game against Portugal. His manager Stale Solbakken later explained that his exit was due to "extreme strain", having started all four matches during the international period.

The 26-year-old striker has scored five goals as many Premier League games this season, helping City win every match to sit top of the table. They face a tough test against Liverpool on Sunday - a match that will be coloured by City being found guilty of 114 of the 115 charges levelled at them by the Premier League.

In a pre-match press conference dominated by the aftermath of the verdict, Maresca did have some good news for City fans concerning their star striker. “He’s good. He went to Marbella, had two or three days off, played golf, recovery,” he said.

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“Ready for Anfield. He’s good, thank you. It was good [to see him and the rest of the squad]. The players were thinking again about their national team, some days off and then go again. It was good [to see him again].”

Before he went off injured, Haaland played every minute of Norway's previous three Nations League matches. He scored twice in the 3-2 win over Denmark before scoring in the 2-1 defeat by Portugal in the first meeting. He went off in the 67th minute in Porto as Norway were beaten 2-1 once more.

"He was simply thoroughly spent," Solbakken, Norway manager, said. "Some of my players have only had six or seven days of holiday. And you do not live off your physical condition in a normal job.

"Then it is straight into the start of the season, followed by a mini-tournament, so it is an extreme strain."

Having taken time out to recover in Spain, Haaland has been training with his City team-mates in the past few days. He also became the first City player to publicly address the financial cheating scandal.

"We have to stick together, stay with each other, stay positive," Haaland told Sky Sports. "No matter what happens in life, we always have to have a smile, stay positive, look ahead, and try to win football games, enjoy the situation.

"We have to stick together, spread the love to each other, stick together, enjoy the ride, smile... I think they (the City fans) are going to have a good time."

Asked if he sympathised with his players, Maresca said: "The players, I've said already, we can only control the football side. We are focused on that. This is what we can do and control. We cannot control something different."

He is exciting about the challenge against Liverpool. "I know that Anfield is a nice pitch, probably even more warm in terms of environment," Maresca said. "The reason why I decide to be a manager is for these kinds of games."