Football: Guardiola looking forward to battle of Haaland v Kane

LONDON – Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is relishing a battle of two of the best strikers in the English Premier League when his side travel to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

City’s Norwegian star Erling Haaland has been a hotshot in front of goal in his first season in the English top flight, leading the Golden Boot race with 25 goals so far, while Spurs’ English talisman Harry Kane is second on 16.

Kane is also seeking to score one more goal to become Tottenham’s outright top scorer of all time after he equalled Jimmy Greaves on 266 goals late in January.

The clash in north London will likely be one with plenty of firepower from both men, and Guardiola was full of praise for the duo, especially for Kane.

“We are extremely happy with Erling Haaland and, of course, I think Tottenham are extremely happy with Harry Kane,” he said.

“What an exceptional player. What Harry Kane has done is amazing, the goals, the quality he has. Harry Kane remains one of the best strikers I have seen in my life. Not even winning. It doesn’t matter.

“It’s like with managers. There are incredible, incredible managers that do not win titles, they are bad managers because they don’t win the title? No. Sometimes it happens.

“I think Tottenham are happy to have him. We are extremely happy to have this young player like Erling that I think is going to give us many good years.”

City are hoping for a win to keep the pressure on Premier League leaders Arsenal but Guardiola has lost all four of his visits to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in all competitions.

When asked about his game plan to counter this, he simply said: “Because they were better than us. We played decent games (but) missed penalties.

“Now with Antonio Conte (in charge), the quality they have up front, the organisation – they’re a tough opponent, always have been in the last few years.

“They’ve been fighting for Champions League (qualification), they’ve been in the top four for many, many years. So it’s a tough place to go.” 

The CIty boss confirmed that Phil Foden is back in contention for the clash after recovering from a foot injury, while John Stones could be out for up to a month after suffering a hamstring issue in the FA Cup win over Arsenal on Jan 28.

“It’s three weeks, one month (out),” said Guardiola. “Unfortunately, a lot of games.”

Spurs boss Conte will be absent from the touchline as he recovers from a surgery to remove his gallbladder.

The Italian is recovering well, said his assistant Cristian Stellini, but there is no timeline for his return.

“I think nobody here can keep him calm!” Stellini joked on Friday.

“He’s an intelligent man. He knows what happened. The surgery is not the worst but it’s still surgery and he knows he has to be careful.”

Conte joins long-term absentee Lucas Moura, who is still struggling with a tendon problem, in the treatment room while Richarlison is available after recovering from injury.

On whether fullback Pedro Porro, who signed for Spurs on loan from Sporting Lisbon on deadline day, could make his debut, Stellini said the 23-year-old could be in contention.

“He is young but he has great experience. He plays in a similar system we play and he is available,” said Stellini.

“He can improve but he is a great player, he’s good technically and we were impressed by his performance against us (in the Champions League).” REUTERS, AFP