The duel of two teams competing for the Premier League title in recent years will be held at Anfield, Sunday (16/10) at 9:00 pm Indian Time. Liverpool will face defending champions, Manchester City who are unbeaten so far.
The condition of the two teams is 180 degrees opposite if you look at the consistency of playing this season in the Premier League. Man City is still a strong candidate for the title with 23 points from nine matches, one point adrift of Arsenal at the top of the standings.
Meanwhile, Liverpool is in 10th place with a collection of 10 points from eight matches, with details of two wins, four draws, and two draws. Judging from the momentum, Man City has a bit of an advantage.
Especially the new strike rMan CityErling Haaland did not stop scoring goals. The Norwegian striker has scored 20 goals in 13 games in all competitions, 15 of which have been scored in nine Premier League games.
So far, only two teams have been able to stop Haaland, namely Bournemouth and Liverpool, when they played in the Community Shield. Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk hopes to stop Haaland again, but he also insists that Man City has equal strength in each line.
"It's definitely not easy – he (Haaland) is on fire, you can't say anything else," Van Dijk told TV2 in Norway.
"I remember after the Community Shield where a lot of people had crossed him, I remember saying, 'Listen, this guy is going to cause so many nightmares for defenders. He showed it, he showed a consistent and clear level in a team like City where opportunities will always come."
Van Dijk thinks the best way to stop Haaland is to stop the flow of the ball aimed at him. The most important thing for the Dutch defender is to stop Man City from scoring.
"We have to try to stop the ball going to him, defend at the highest level and be the best, and that's what we always face against City and it will be no different on Sunday," added Van Dijk.
"That's something we have to do, it's definitely not me against him, it's us all against them all. It's the outside world that creates the battles, the one-on-ones, and all this stuff. We want to stop them from scoring goals, regardless of who's on the pitch. the field. But we know he is quite good, "he concluded.