Man City hotshot Erling Haaland faces up to personal Liverpool problem - 'That's the key'

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Liverpool Echo IconSportFootballLiverpool FCErling Haaland comes face-to-face with Liverpool again after scoring just one Premier League goal against the RedsErling Haaland has been an unstoppable force this season but he could be about to run into his very own immovable object.The Manchester City hotshot's remarkable record of 18 goals in 14 games - figures which swell to scarcely believable 27 in 17 when you count his exploits on international duty - mark him out as the Premier League's top performer right now.But on Sunday he'll be coming up against a man he has often struggled to get the better of in Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk, fresh from the Dutchman and centre-back partner Ibrahima Konate nullifying Kylian Mbappe in the Champions League and keeping a clean sheet against Aston Villa as Liverpool have returned to form over the past week.READ MORE: Five of Liverpool's best wins over Man City ahead of Etihad Stadium showdownREAD MORE: Arne Slot has given game away ahead of Man City after bizarre Liverpool callsAnd while he might rightly strike fear in the defences of most teams worldwide, Haaland has won just one of his eight matches against Liverpool across his career.That victory came in a League Cup tie in December 2022 when Van Dijk wasn't on the pitch, while the only goal he has ever scored at Anfield came in the colours of former club Red Bull Salzburg in a 4-3 Champions League defeat for the Austrians back in 2019.As the pair come face-to-face at the Etihad again on Sunday, former Liverpool and City midfielder Dietmar Hamann knows that Van Dijk will have to be at his best to keep out the red-hot City No.9 as both sides seek to make up the gap to early season pace-setters 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."