Erling Haaland could be crucial for Manchester City against Arsenal
Erling Haaland could play an important role in Manchester City's match against Arsenal (Image:
Getty)
Wayne Rooney has named the only Arsenal player who can stop Manchester City striker Erling Haaland from a potential title decider at the Etihad Stadium.
Haaland has had an impressive debut season at Man City, scoring 48 goals in all competitions and helping Pep Guardiola's side challenge a historic treble.
Manchester City will overtake Premier League leaders Arsenal and win the title if they win their remaining matches, after reaching the final stages of the Champions League and FA Cup.
Wednesday night is likely to be a decisive moment in the title race as Man City host Arsenal at the Etihad and Rooney believes the only Arsenal player can 'match the pace and power' of the current Haaland. traumatized.
The former Manchester United and England striker told The Times:
"How do they stop Erling Haaland?" With William Saliba injured, there is no ability to match his speed and power personally, and the only way out is to go out on the field and try to impose his own style of play.
"City can be vulnerable when you attack them in the transition and you've seen that against Bayern Munich, especially when Leroy Sane should have scored after Bayern took possession of the ball and attacked them. "
“Those are the opportunities you can get against Man City, and Arsenal have players who can capitalize on them in a way that Bayern don't – like Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus.
William Saliba had to miss a few weeks of competition due to back pain
William Saliba has been absent for several weeks due to back problems (Image:
Getty)
"Arsenal should focus on exposing these Man City defenders rather than focusing too much on Haaland. The mindset should be:
Nobody thought we'd be here, and now we're fighting for the title - so let's go and get it. "If they take that aggressive approach it will be a great game." What if they sit and wait? Do it against the City and you'll slowly die.
"Cities are special and cannot be besieged, so the question is what they can do by attacking themselves and have no regrets."
Arsenal, who haven't won the Premier League since 2004, topped the table for most of the campaign but was in danger of collapsing during the run.
Mikel Arteta's side led 2-0 in consecutive games against Liverpool and West Ham before dropping more points in a 3-3 draw with bottom team Southampton. Rooney added:
"Arsenal has exceeded everyone's expectations by putting themselves in a position where, if they win their remaining six games, they will win." But to draw in their last three matches is a serious blow.
"Recently I heard Gary Neville say that if at the start of the season you gave Arsenal a scenario of 'win a game against Man City and you're the team to win the league', they would accept it.
"But I think because of what's happened in the last few games, it's not going to be like that. If they don't win, they will feel like they've thrown away the title. "Their draw against Liverpool was good - a point is always a good result at Anfield - but failing to win against West Ham and Southampton could haunt them."
'However, whatever happens from here, I'm very impressed with them. They've had a great season and have some very good young players and the experience in this title race will help those players a lot in the coming seasons.
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