Aston Villa's new signing Jan Bednarek has called Erling Haaland "just a human" and outlined the way that his side can stop Manchester City from winning their third successive Premier League game.
As the ball hit the back of Nottingham Forest's net for the third time in just 38 minutes, any doubts that Haaland would struggle in the Premier League were quashed. The Norwegian's ninth goal in five games now sees him already only six goals shy of equalling the club's highest return in the league last season.
Kevin de Bruyne managed to score 15 times for the Blues during City's title-winning 2021/22 campaign. The Belgian maestro has scored a sensational outside of the right-foot finish already against Bournemouth, but he simply cannot compete with the former Borussia Dortmund forward's appetite in front of goal.
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Opposition managers will no doubt be spending countless hours working out how to stop Haaland when their sides come up against the goalscoring machine. It is Steven Gerrard's turn this afternoon to try his hand at keeping the 6ft 4in striker out of the game, and his new signing from Southampton might have an idea on how to do it.
Bednarek shared his thoughts on Villa's gameplan (via the Express & Star ), as he discussed the way in which his side can stop City - specifically the threat that Haaland poses against the Villans.
He said: "If someone is scoring nine goals in five games it must be impressive – especially in the Premier League. But he is just a human being and he can also be defended [against] very well. Hopefully we can do it.
“We know it’s going to be difficult because they have qualities but we will be really committed, really aggressive. If we don’t give them too much time on the ball they can also struggle, so hopefully we can do that.”
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