Manchester City now have options in the final third to ease the burden on Haaland | OneFootball

Across the early stages of the 25/26 season, Erling Haaland has carried the goalscoring burden for Manchester City. In all competitions, Haaland has scored 15 goals to begin the season. His strong form has helped Pep Guardiola’s side overcome a slow start to the new campaign. Outside of Haaland, City have lacked a consistent goal threat. Phil Foden, Rayan Cherki, and Jeremy Doku have all scored two goals this season to be Manchester City’s second top-scorers after Haaland. With Omar Marmoush and Rayan Cherki both fit, City should now have a more consistent goal threat to play alongside the world’s best striker.

Manchester City now has options to play alongside Haaland.

Manchester City beat Swansea 3-1 earlier this week in their fourth-round Carabao Cup at the Swansea.com Stadium. After falling behind, goals from Jeremy Doku, Omar Marmoush, and Rayan Cherki saw City pick up a win. Erling Haaland was rested for Wednesday night’s match, so the goalscoring burden fell to Haaland’s teammates. They did their job, and their performance in Wales showed which players can help add more goalscoring options to Manchester City’s play.

Omar Marmoush and Rayan Cherki have missed significant time this season due to injury. They are both back fit and in form based on their performances against Swansea. Given that Oscar Bobb, Savinho, and Jeremy Doku are yet to establish themselves as consistent players in the final third, Cherki and Marmoush loom as vital players for Pep Guardiola’s side. Cherki, when fit, is a creative player who can set up and score goals himself. Marmoush is a proven goalscorer and is a vital player for his team. If the Egyptian international can stay fit, he’ll immediately ease the burden on Haaland.

Savinho, Jeremy Doku, and Oscar Bobb do need to add goals to their game. If that improvement can come throughout the upcoming games and this season, Manchester City should be less reliant on Erling Haaland. If Phil Foden and Tijjani Reijnders can start banging the goals in, the entire equation changes for Pep Guardiola’s side.

Pep Guardiola knows his squad has goalscoring options outside of Haaland.

Speaking ahead of Manchester City’s tough Premier League fixture against Bournemouth on Friday, Pep Guardiola acknowledged that his team needs goals from players outside of Erling Haaland. The City manager also told the media that there are options in his squad in the final third. He explained: “The numbers up front have to be better. They know it, but we have players with the ability to score goals, Rayan Cherki, Phil, they’re playing good, but we have to find the big players with the impact.”

Pep Guardiola also acknowledged that with Omar Marmoush now fit, Erling Haaland now has an opportunity to rest when required. This option wasn’t available while the Egyptian international was injured. Guardiola also said that Erling Haaland has not grown tired of scoring goals. He explained: “He’s not tired of scoring goals (Erling Haaland). When he’s tired, he can tell me, before when Omar was injured, he couldn’t, but they can play there with Rayan Cherki. We can play in different shapes depending on the opponent.”

With Rayan Cherki and Omar Marmoush now fully fit, Manchester City look to have a better equipped attack. They have been heavily reliant on Erling Haaland this season but with important players now fit, Pep Guardiola’s side should be a more formidable proposition in the final third. The hope that those attacking options will be on show against Bournemouth at the Etihad later today.