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Manchester City head coach Enzo Maresca has declared Erling Haaland is "100%" fit for Saturday's Premier League clash away at Aston Villa.
Haaland suffered a foot problem last weekend during his team's 3–2 triumph over Ipswich Town and, with questions surrounding his fitness, was left unused on the bench in Tuesday's Champions League win against AEK Athens—a match in which he could reasonably have been rested regardless.
The challenge intensifies this weekend as City head to Villa Park for Saturday's early kickoff, and with uncertainty still surrounding Nico O'Reilly, Matheus Nunes and Mateo Kovačić, Maresca was pleased to announce his talisman will return to the starting eleven.
"[The injured players] could all be available or not, there's still some doubt," Maresca said. "Yesterday, they were all showing improvement, and we'll assess again this afternoon.
"Erling is definitely the only one who is 100% ready."
Haaland has already bagged eight goals in just seven Premier League outings and sits three ahead of both Alexander Isak and João Pedro in the top-scorer standings at this early point in the campaign. A record-equalling fourth Golden Boot to match Thierry Henry and Mohamed Salah is already within reach.
Haaland's Return Provides Welcome Boost to Stretched Forward Line
City are still absorbing the blow of winger Antoine Semenyo facing two months on the sidelines due to injury.
Maresca's attacking options have yet to be truly put to the test without Semenyo, as the AEK Athens fixture offered an opportunity to rotate, with Allan coming in on the flank and 17-year-old Floyd Samba leading the line in Haaland's absence. It was Phil Foden who stole the spotlight, with the Englishman scoring a hat-trick and teeing up a goal for Rayan Cherki, whom Maresca described as "one of the best players in Europe" when performing at his peak.
Villa should pose a considerably tougher challenge for a City side chasing an eighth straight victory to open the new Premier League campaign.
Jérémy Doku is expected to slot in for Semenyo on the wing against Unai Emery's outfit, who face the daunting task of trying to contain Haaland—though few clubs have a better record against the Norwegian than Villa.
Across five appearances, Haaland has managed just one goal against the Villans, and that came in their very first encounter back in 2022. He has since gone four matches without finding the net against them, missing two further games through injury and sitting out another on the bench.
Villa endured a sluggish start to the season but have rediscovered the kind of form that propelled them back into the top four last year. Emery's men have won five of their last six across all competitions, with a 2–2 draw against Brentford the only stumble on their record in over a month.