Virgil van Dijk and Erling Haaland will square off when Manchester City travel to Liverpool on Sunday with the Dutch defender opening up on the challenges he’ll face

Virgil van Dijk admits Erling Haaland “has caused him problems” but believes he’s given as good as he’s got in with battles with the Manchester City star.

Haaland and the champions head to Anfield on Sunday looking to make a statement in the Premier League title race. City haven’t enjoyed their trips to the red half of Merseyside and were beaten there last term by a Mohamed Salah strike.

Liverpool managed to keep City and Haaland scoreless on that occasion – a rare feat.

The Norwegian did score at Anfield in the Champions League during his time at Red Bull Salzburg whilst he’s scored twice in his four outings against the Reds with City.

Van Dijk was key to stopping Haaland with the Dutchman a leading light in Liverpool’s backline and he’s ready to renew their rivalry. He said: “Of course. I’ve caused him problems, he’s caused me problems – that’s how it works. These battles are always tough. But like I said I think he is looking forward to it and I’m looking forward to it.”

Last term Haaland drew a blank on his City debut in a Community Shield defeat to Liverpool before he again failed to score in their first league meeting. He did score in a 3-2 Carabao Cup success in December 2022 and notched in the 1-1 draw between the two teams at the Etihad earlier this term.

Van Dijk first came across Haaland though when he was at Salzburg in 2019 with the Reds winning 4-3 at Anfield. Jan Åge Fjørtoft, the ex-player turned pundit, commented that the defender seemed angered when he interviewed him about the young forward.

Fjortoft previously told the Blood Red podcast : “After the game, I interviewed Van Dijk, who I always like to interview because he is a gentleman, and I said ‘I have to ask you about the Norwegian, Erling Haland’ and he just said: ‘Well, we won the game’. So I said ‘Yes, but what do you think about him?’

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“Van Dijk said: ‘I didn’t see a lot of him’ and he was a bit angry because there was some mistakes done and I said ‘It’s a good sign for a striker when a defender says he didn’t see him!’ – and then he just went away.”

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Haaland himself looks to have stoked the fire between City and Liverpool as he responded to comments made by Trent Alexander-Arnold, who claimed that Liverpool’s trophies mean more than City’s because of the financial difference between the two outings.

Haaland hit back by saying: “I’ve been here one year and won the Treble and it was quite a nice feeling, I do not think he knows exactly this feeling. So yeah, that is what I felt last season and it was quite nice.”