Erling Haaland faces Virgil van Dijk this weekend as Liverpool host Man City at Anfield (Getty/TV2)
Virgil van Dijk insists Liverpool need to stop the supply to Erling Haaland during their Premier League clash with Manchester City on Sunday.
Jurgen Klopp’s side will head into the game at Anfield full of confidence following their 7-1 victory over Rangers in the Champions League on Wednesday evening.
But Liverpool will face their toughest test in the Premier League this weekend as Haaland and City travel to Anfield.
Haaland leads the way in the Premier League this season with 15 goals and Van Dijk believes it will require a team effort to stop the Norway international from adding to that tally.
When asked about the prospect of facing Haaland, Van Dijk told TV2: ‘Definitely not easy – he’s been on fire, you can’t say anything else.
‘I remember after the Community Shield where a lot of people have been writing him off, I remember I was saying, ‘listen, this guy is going to cause so many defenders nightmares’.
Erling Haaland has already scored 15 goals in the Premier League this season (Getty)
‘He’s shown it, he’s been showing a consistent level and obviously in a team like City where chances will always come.
‘We have to try to stop the balls going to him, defend at the highest level, and be at our best, and that’s what we always have to be against City and that’s not going to be any different on Sunday.
‘It’s something we should look forward to, it’s definitely not me against him, it’s all of us versus all of them. It’s the outside world that creates battles, one versus one and all this stuff. We want to stop them scoring, regardless of who it is on the pitch. But we know he’s quite good.’
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Asked if Haaland is the best player in the world, Van Dijk replied: ‘Wow, I know for a fact he’s scoring a lot of goals for fun and that’s very important to win games and that’s been showing.
‘He’s a very good goalscorer, let’s keep it that way, and hopefully we can stop him from scoring on Sunday, we need to be at our very best to do that, but like I said, it’s all of us versus all of them.’
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‘He’s been on fire, you can’t say anything else.’