While Nathan Ake was substituted for the Netherlands in their victory over Greece, Erling Haaland was not deployed as a replacement in Norway’s friendly victory against Jordan.

Erling Haaland was merely given a break for Norway in their victory over Jordan on Thursday in order to recuperate up for a more crucial match the following week, but Manchester City may be worried about Nathan Ake’s halftime replacement for the Netherlands during their victory over Greece.

Haaland has added six goals to his 52 from the previous season for City and has left for international duty in an effort to assist Norway advance further in the Euro 2024 qualifying process.

Norway is ahead of Spain by one point in Group A, however the Norwegians have played two more games than the Spanish team. They are third behind Scotland and Georgia. It might be challenging to qualify for the top two slots, but Tuesday’s home victory versus Georgia is crucial.

Due to Haaland’s workload for City, Norway manager Stale Solbakken was never going to risk him in their friendly match against Jordan on Thursday. Instead, he chose to give him an extra few days of rest before their critical qualifier.

Before the easy 6-0 victory, Solbakken gave this explanation of his team selection: “It is about a dialogue with him that I have had on the same level as the 13-14 others who are eligible to start.

“They [City] started the pre-season 14 days later than everyone else because of the Champions League. There is a small backlog, which is getting smaller and smaller every day. Then we think it makes the most sense for him to build up and train with Bjørn Vidar Stenersen [physio/coach] so that he is 100 per cent by Tuesday.”

Haaland remained firmly on the bench as Solbakken planned, and he will anticipate starting his star striker on Tuesday knowing that the top two will likely be further away from Norway after Georgia plays Spain and Scotland plays Cyprus on Friday night.

When Ronald Koeman switched up the formation against Greece, the Netherlands’ qualification campaign got back on track, and Nathan Ake started.

After losing to France in the first round of games, the Netherlands rebounded with a shaky victory over Gibraltar and a much stronger 3-0 triumph over Greece, switching back to the more conventional 3-4-3 style with wingbacks and utilizing Ake as the left center-back of the back three.

Ake did not return after the break; Stefan de Vrij took his place. The Dutch took a 3-0 advantage into halftime.Despite Koeman’s lack of an explanation following the game, NOS stated that Ake felt his hamstring before the break. However, Ake had a yellow card.

As they wait for information on a potential new injury, City will hope that Ake’s substitution was preventative. During the international break, Kevin De Bruyne, John Stones, and Jack Grealish are already absent for their respective nations due to injury issues.