All eyes on Man City as Haaland out of tie against Luton

Manchester City will be without Erling Haaland for today’s clash with Luton. Haaland was not among the City squad when they arrived at Kenilworth Road.

His absence is one of four changes Pep Guardiola has made from the side who were beaten at Aston Villa.

Jack Grealish replaces the front line to take the place of Haaland, with Julian Alvarez expected to start in the centre forward role.

John Stones and Manuel Akanji are taken out, with the returning Rodri and Nathan Ake starting in their places. The other change sees Rico Lewis make way for Mateo Kovacic in midfield.

Manchester City have been struggling in their recent outings. They lost to Aston Villa in their last game and would want to go all out against the new Premier League sides.

Meanwhile, Luton captain Tom Lockyer, in his pre-match programme notes, has decribed the tie against Manchester City as a test like no other.

“Manchester City. A test like no other for us.

“Nobody will expect us to get a result but has this club ever paid attention to any of that outside noise? Exactly.

“We have repeatedly shown this season that we are capable of mixing it with the best.

“I’m not going to roll out the cliches. None of this: ‘it’s 11 v 11 at the end of the day’ stuff. We know what we’re capable of and I’m sure they will treat us with the respect we deserve.”