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Erling Haaland has been a force to be reckoned with this season, but he may soon meet his match.
The Manchester City striker's impressive tally of 18 goals in 14 games - a number that rises to an almost unbelievable 27 in 17 when you include his international performances - sets him apart as the Premier League's top player at the moment.
However, on Sunday, Haaland will face a player he's often found difficult to outdo: Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk. Fresh from partnering with Ibrahima Konate to neutralize Kylian Mbappe in the Champions League and keeping a clean sheet against Aston Villa, Van Dijk is in fine form as Liverpool regains its stride.
Despite instilling fear in defences worldwide, Haaland has only managed to secure one victory in his eight matches against Liverpool throughout his career.
That win was in a League Cup tie in December 2022 when Van Dijk wasn't playing.
The only goal he's ever scored at Anfield was for his former team, Red Bull Salzburg, in a 4-3 Champions League loss back in 2019.
As the two teams prepare to go head-to-head at the Etihad again on Sunday, former Liverpool and City midfielder Dietmar Hamann recognizes that Van Dijk will need to be at his best to stop the in-form City No. 9, as both teams aim to close the gap on early-season leader Arsenal.
"He's the biggest threat for City, and if you stop him from scoring, I think you've got a very good chance to come away with a result from the Etihad," Hamann told footballblog.co.uk.
"I don't think you can nullify him completely, because he's just too good and he's too powerful.
"Obviously, you have to try to stop players giving him service, because once he's got a chance to score, more often than not he does.
"I think the key to victory will be to stop him.
"I think Van Dijk's done a pretty good job in recent years against him with Konate.
"I think that's the key.
"But I think if Liverpool want to improve, and if they want to have a say in the Premier League or the Champions League, they just have to make sure they defend better as a team and start controlling games better."
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