"He's been on fire" - Virgil van Dijk on Erling Haaland

Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk has given his verdict on Manchester City forward Erling Haaland.

The Reds will face the Citizens at Anfield on Sunday. With that being the case, Van Dijk will come up against the in-form Haaland.

The Norway international has scored 20 goals and registered three assists in 13 appearances for Manchester City's first-team this season.

Van Dijk, along with his teammates, will have to play extremely well to stop Haaland on Sunday.

The Dutchman gave his verdict on the forward during a recent interview.

"It's definitely not easy – he’s been on fire, you can’t say anything else," Van Dijk told Manchester Evening News, as quoted by Anfield Watch on Twitter.

"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’.

"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."

Anfield Watch Verdict

If Liverpool are slightly off the pace against Manchester City, then Haaland could seriously hurt the Reds if he is switched on.

Liverpool came up against Manchester City in the Community Shield final at the King Power Stadium before the 2022-23 campaign got underway. They dealt with the 22-year-old reasonably well.

Haaland did not score and Liverpool won the game 3-1. But, that is in the past.