After Erling Haaland scored against Liverpool more than three years ago, Virgil van Dijk walked away from an interview because he was so upset by Haaland’s behavior. Van Dijk left the interview shortly after Haaland scored.
When Liverpool travel to Manchester City on Saturday lunchtime, Virgil van Dijk may get the opportunity to play against Erling Haaland for the seventh time in his professional career.
The Dutchman’s record versus Haaland in their previous six matches is won three times, drawn once, and lost once. This occurred in City’s most recent match against Pep Guardiola’s team in December, when the City frontman scored the game-winning goal in a 3-2 victory for his team.
Only twice has Haaland found the back of the net when playing against Liverpool; the other goal he scored against them came in 2019 while he was playing for Red Bull Salzburg in the Champions League. Although Salzburg was playing at Anfield, he began the game on the bench, but he entered the game later and scored his team’s third goal in a loss by a score of 4-3.
It was Haaland’s cameo performance that placed him on the map in Europe. He was a real headache for the Liverpool back-line, especially Van Dijk, during his brief appearance. Immediately following the match, the Reds defender was questioned by Jan Aage Fjortoft, a former star for Norway, regarding the player who had just scored.
In an interview with the Blooɗ Red podcast from the previous year, Fjortoft said: “He scored one goal but he could have had three or four – he was unbelievable. I was amazed at how he created space, and the way that I define that is how his runs are wise and experienced. The first time I saw him [Haaland] live was at Anfield when he came on, and I was amazed that this young kid created so much space.
“After the game, I had an interview with Van Dijk, who I always like to interview because he is a gentleman. I said, “I have to question you about the Norwegian, Erling Haland,” and he just responded, “Oh, we won the game.” I always like to interview Van Dijk because he is a gentleman. Thus, I responded, “Yeah, but what are your thoughts about him?” ‘.
“Van Dijk said, ‘I didn’t see a lot of him,’ and he was a bit irritated because there were some mistakes done, and I responded, ‘It’s a good indication for a striker when a defender says he didn’t see him!’ – and then he just went away.” “Van Dijk remarked: ‘I didn’t see a lot of him.'”
Since his breɑkout season for Salzburg, Haaland has been nothing short of brilliant, and as a result, he has earned a transfer to Borussia Dortmund for the 2020 winter transfer window. At Signal Iduna Park, he quickly established himself as the fans’ favorite player after scoring 16 goals in his first 18 matches there.
After that, the Norway star played in 71 matches and scored an astonishing 70 goals before signing with City in the summer of 2017. In the Etihad Stadium, he has maintained his simply flawless scoring pattern throughout the match. Before City’s game against Liverpool, Haaland had scored 42 goals in 37 matches, bringing his career total to almost 200 goals for both club and country. This brings his overall number of appearances to 37. This is just astounding for a player who will turn 23 in July; congratulations!
As a result of sustaining a groin injury prior to the breɑk for international competition, there is significant uncertainty regarding Haaland’s ability to compete against Liverpool.
