Haaland was taken off 67 minutes into Norway's 2-1 UEFA Nations League defeat to Portugal at the weekend, having signalled to the bench to request a substitution as Jørgen Strand Larsen came on for the Manchester City forward.

Norway manager Ståle Solbakken said that Haaland was among a pool of players who left the camp in the immediate aftermath of the defeat to Portugal, telling reporters they flew off in "a plane you and I can't afford".

Manchester City return to action on Sunday as they face Andoni Iraola and Liverpool at Anfield in their first match since an independent commission declared the club guilty of breaching the Premier League's financial rules on 114 counts between 2009-18.

City have vehemently denied the verdict and filed a formal appeal into the same, with proceedings set to commence in the next month before possible sanctions will be decided.

Haaland limping and requesting a change on international duty left some uncertainty looming over his availability for the trip to Merseyside as Manchester City seek to maintain their perfect start to the 2026/27 Premier League campaign, having won their first five league games.

However, Paul Hirst of The Times has reported that Haaland was merely suffering from fatigue against Portugal and is not suffering from an injury, which is likely to see him be fit and available as normal against Liverpool.

The Blues are seven out of seven in all competitions under Enzo Maresca since August's 3-0 Community Shield defeat to Arsenal in Wales, though the news of verdict is understood to have darkened the mood around the Etihad Stadium.

Maresca is set to address his squad for the first time since the guilty verdict on Thursday, with the Manchester City manager recently spotted entering the City Football Academy for the first time himself since the September 29 verdict.

The Italian tactician will face the media on Friday to preview the Liverpool fixture but matters on the pitch are not expected to dominate the agenda in the upcoming press conference.

Manchester City entered the international break with a thrilling 5-3 win over Sunderland at the Etihad Stadium as a new-look midfield continues to impress at an early stage of the Blues' era under Maresca's stewardship.

Enzo Fernandez, Ayyoub Bouaddi and Elliot Anderson were brought in to remake Manchester City's midfield in the summer as Rodri, Bernardo Silva and Tijjani Reijnders left - the former trio costing north of £320 million.

Officials at the Etihad Stadium will be impressed with the manner in which Maresca and co have so far navigated life beyond Pep Guardiola, who departed his role as Manchester City manager in May after a decade of unparalleled success in England.