Jurgen Klopp hopes his Liverpool side can learn from their first encounter with Erling Haaland when Manchester City visit Anfield on Sunday, but admits it won't be an easy task.
City will face arguably their toughest test of the season so far when they take on Liverpool on Sunday afternoon, even if Klopp's side have endured a rocky start to the campaign. Both of last season's league encounters between the two sides finished 2-2 after City missed a host of chances, but now the Blues have a player in their ranks that could tilt the contest in their favour.
Haaland will be looking to continue his remarkable scoring run after sitting out City's goalless draw in Copenhagen on Tuesday. The 22-year-old has scored 15 goals in his first nine Premier League appearances, putting him on track to smash Mohamed Salah's 32-goal record for a single 38-game Premier League season.
READ MORE: Solving Phil Foden conundrum will be key to Man City breaking Liverpool FC run at Anfield
Sunday's match will be the second time Haaland faces Liverpool in a City shirt, having started the Community Shield defeat back in August. The striker's fortunes have certainly changed for the better since that underwhelming afternoon, but speaking on Friday Klopp was keen to point out that Liverpool experienced Haaland at his best a few years ago when he was at RB Salzburg.
Liverpool defeated the Austrian side 4-3 at Anfield in a Champions League group stage match in October 2019, with Haaland scoring Salzburg's third goal of the evening.
"What is it about him? Even when he was very young you could see the potential was insane," Klopp said. "I don't think he started at Anfield but we were already pretty busy thinking about him and how to close him down. He scored anyway.
"Physically he sets the standards. He has the combination of being pretty physical and technical. He has sensational awareness and his orientation of the pitch - he knows where the offsides are, he reads it well. So many things to make a striker, and at City he has some of the best players around him for setting up goals. It's a perfect fit."
READ NEXT:
