The Reds hope to build on their 7-1 Champions League triumph over Rangers in midweek when they host the reigning champions at Anfield on Sunday afternoon.
Even though Erling Haaland participated in this season’s Community Shield Cup in August, he will make his Anfield debut against Liverpool on Sunday.
Undoubtedly Virgil van Dijk is the best-performing centre-back in the Premier League, earning him being nominated for the Ballon d’Or Award in the weeks ahead, and Erling Haaland is in the Premier League for the first time with impressive goal-scoring form.
Van Dijk has appeared uncharacteristically vulnerable in a Liverpool squad that has recently conceded three goals against Brighton and Arsenal.
But Van Dijk, the Dutchman, has a chance to silence his critics against Manchester City. A clash with Erling Haaland might demonstrate that the Liverpool defender remains one of the brightest in the Premier League.
The smart and knowledgeable editors of www.atspo.com have been active in pinpointing the challenge in this weekend’s most challenging Premier League fixture.
The coach of Liverpool, in a pre-match press conference ahead of the game on Sunday, stated that the plan to stop Haaland from scoring was to prevent the ball from reaching him upfront.
As quoted by Jürgen Klopp, “Like always, obviously, when you play against, for sure at the moment, the best striker in the world, you have to make sure that he doesn’t get that many balls – and that’s what you have to defend before you come into the challenge with him, so that’s what we will try.”
The manager who brought Virgil van Dijk to the United Kingdom and later managed the first British club to face Erling Haaland, Neil Lennon, is the coach of Omonia Nicosia and has a unique perspective on the battle between the top-class striker and the best defender in the Premier League.
He knows Van Dijk as a person as well as a player, and he considers a clash with the gigantic Haaland to be just what the 31-year-old needs right now.
Neil Lennon emphasised the fact that Van Dijk has to handle Erling Haaland at this moment, “From what I’ve seen, he is still capable of turning on the burners and being a proper defender. He is a real physical specimen, and so is Haaland. Virgil will fancy it, I think. He’ll go, come on, let’s see what you’ve got. When world-class players like him get criticism, they’ll come back for more. They won’t shirk responsibility.”
