Swansea vs. Man City: “Mad” Erling Haaland start verdict delivered as “incredible” EFL Cup benefits are highlighted

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola would be “mad” to play Erling Haaland in Wednesday’s EFL Cup fourth-round tie away against Swansea City, Citizens expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany has told Sports Mole.

Widely regarded as one of the world’s best strikers, Haaland has been in prolific form for Man City so far this season, scoring 15 goals in just 12 appearances across all competitions.

The Norwegian’s impressive 12-game scoring run for club and country did come to an end last weekend, though, as he drew a blank in City’s 1-0 Premier League defeat at Aston Villa.

Haaland will be keen to begin another scoring streak and will hope to fire Man City back to winning ways in the top flight next Sunday when they welcome a high-flying Bournemouth outfit to the Etihad Stadium.

However, Guardiola and co must first shift their attention to their midweek trip to the Liberty Stadium where they will battle it out with Championship side Swansea for a place in the EFL Cup quarter-finals.

Haaland was not involved in Man City’s third-round victory away against League One side Huddersfield Town last month and McInerney would be surprised to see the 25-year-old feature in South Wales on Wednesday.

Haaland to be rested? Mukasa or Bobb as a false nine for Man City?

Should Haaland not play against Swansea, either Oscar Bobb or Divine Mukasa - two academy graduates - could be deployed in a false nine role, the latter impressed on his full senior debut as an attacker against Huddersfield.

“I think there's going to be wholesale changes and I think the changes are sort of necessary,” McInerney told Sports Mole.

“I want to see a lot of changes. I want to see [James] Trafford get a game. I think we will see the return of [Abdukodir] Khusanov, potentially if he's available.

“[Rayan] Ait-Nouri you'd think would get a start here, and then you look around at people who probably need more football as well - almost certainly you would think [Rayan] Cherki and [Omar] Marmoush would start.

“I probably expect to see maybe [Divine] Mukasa as well, the young lad, I think he'll probably play, we might even see a rare appearance for Kalvin Phillips, he's in the squad.

“It's going to be a game for rotation and I don't think the regulars like [Josko] Gvardiol, [Phil] Foden and Haaland will play. I think Mukasa or Bobb will get a false nine role, one of those two will play there I reckon (if Haaland is rested).

“I think is probably right. I think you'd be mad to play Haaland against Swansea for absolutely no reason [unless it was the] Champions League or the Premier League. Even though we don't know where we are the Premier League, you’ve got to keep going until you know otherwise.”

“Winning breeds winning”: Man City urged to go all the way in EFL Cup

Man City will hope to progress deep into the EFL Cup this season after being knocked out before the quarter-finals in three of the last four years, having previously won an unprecedented four in a row under Guardiola between 2018 and 2021.

Discussing the benefits of Man City winning a domestic trophy this season, McInerney said: “I do think getting to see the younger players and rotation is useful, and also the fact that you can get to Wembley and win a trophy around February and March. I don't see how that is anything other than an incredible positive for the club, the mentality.

“Winning breeds winning, always. When you lift a trophy, you get a taste for it. Just the Carabao Cup - in inverted commas because we're Manchester City - but just that is still a big thing for some of these players, because if we're being honest, a lot of them don't really have vast experience of winning.

“Some of these guys are pretty new still to success and trophies. You look [Tijjani] Reijnders and he's not got a career glittered with trophies. The same with Ait-Nouri, Cherki, Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez, people like that. I know they’ve played for big clubs, but they're not like Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden who've got six Premier Leagues.

“I think they'll really want to win this and play at Wembley. I think this is a proper chance to do something with the squad and I think that's important. Wembley is always welcome and I like it, and likewise the FA Cup.

“I don't think City's season depends on those, but it does soften the blow if we fall short in the other two major competitions.”

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