Virgil van Dijk shares why thinks he can cope with Erling Haaland when Liverpool face Man City

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Liverpool have one final big test before the international break.The Reds have had a tough run of fixtures as of late, which has been far from ideal given the run of form they have been on.However, they have swept aside both Aston Villa and Real Madrid, with just Manchester City left before they get a little bit of time off from club football.Join our newsletter for news & smart analysis. This will be the trickiest task of all as they have Erling Haaland, one of, if not the most, in-form strikers in world football right now.Virgil van Dijk has stopped him before and he will look to do it again, and he believes that facing Real Madrid so soon before may have only helped Liverpool to cope with him.Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty ImagesLiverpool have already pocketed Kylian MbappeThere are some world class strikers playing right now and the Reds will have to play two in one week, with the first being Kylian Mbappe.The Frenchman has been one of the most dangerous poachers for many years now, and the form he has been in meant that many thought he would tear Liverpool apart.This was not the case, though, and he did almost nothing throughout the whole 90 minutes, with van Dijk believing that coping with him means they are well prepared for Haaland.“That’s going to be a tough game against Haaland, what do you expect on Sunday?” he was asked by a reporter as per Hayters TV.“Similar to tonight a bit,” van Dijk replied.

“We faced a team as well with a very in form striker today and I think today we showed we were good as a team defensively, created opportunities and the goalkeeper saved a couple.”READ MORE: Arne Slot did something vs Real Madrid that not even Jurgen Klopp did at LiverpoolLiverpool will likely keep the same back four given how impressive they were, with the only change maybe being Milos Kerkez in for Andy Robertson due to the Scotsman having played a lot lately.Liverpool just need to stop Erling HaalandStopping Haaland sounds a lot easier said than done, but if they do that, there is a very high chance they win the game.Haaland has 13 goals in the league this season, with their next highest being Tijjani Reijnders on just one.In fact, Burnley’s Maxime Esteve scored two own goals when playing against Man City, making him, technically, their second-highest scorer this season.With the way van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate have played this season, there seems no reason why they cannot stop him either, with this a big chance to go into the international break in the best form possible.